Drabbles of Zenkyoshi
by Mewgia Mirrorcoat
Summary: Drabble collection. Living in the Digiworld with friends was just as expected - fun, interesting, and often dangerous. The addition of crest powers, combat, and warping of time between worlds just made it more chaotic. Light Pokemon crossover.
1. Machine that Switches Minds

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.

A/N: Basically, after writing the latest chapter of "The Survival of Hope" (Chapter 14), I decided I needed humor and proceeded to write about six pages worth of drabbles and crack. These all take place within a future timeline that is so long and complicated that I haven't posted up anything about it. However, there are distinct hints to this timeline in most of my Digimon stories, and one crossover I have "Message of Mewtwo" is directly related. I'm halfway done with a couple of oneshots that basically explain what happened, but...

Long story short, the fabric of the Digiworld itself got warped, causing time to pass such that one week in the real world was roughly one year in the Digiworld. Due to problems with barriers between worlds, tons of problems in the Digiworld, war, attacks, etc., the Digidestined made the difficult decision to just go live in the Digiworld until the time warping stopped. A close friend, who happened to be a Pokemon master, with her team, decided to join them since she's gradually gotten involved with their dealings too. This is where the light Pokemon crossover comes in; there's little enough of it that I felt it was still appropriate to keep the story in the Digimon section.

These drabbles are written in no particular order, and are likely to be very confusing. But funny. I'll try to explain some of the background to things as I go along.

* * *

Background: Izzy has taken up inventing and basically likes to make stuff.

* * *

Izzy's new machine, one that supposedly could switch the consciousness of two linked partners, was one that most of the Digidestined and digimon decidedly refused to test out. In particular were the few who had been the test subjects of the machine "that transported people places", who had to admit that though it worked, it was an experience they had no desire to repeat.

Unfortunately, one couple decided to be nice to Izzy, and allow him to use the machine on them.

Five minutes after the switch had been flipped, they were starting to freak out a little.

"What do you mean it's not changing us back?!" Joe screeched, frantically waving his flippers in the air.

Izzy looked at them apologetically. "I'm sure it's just a slight programming error. Just give me a few minutes to find the error and I'll put you guys back."

Gomamon, in Joe's body, was enjoying the experience much more than his partner. He was currently attempting to walk, and failing miserably as he continually fell down on his face. Finally he gave up and padded around on all fours, which only looked hilarious because of whose body he was in. "Man, how do you humans walk on two legs?"

Joe groaned. "Do you really want a full anatomical explanation?" He crept forward a bit on his flippers. "And why are you so calm about this?! What if we're stuck this way forever?!"

"You aren't going to be stuck this way forever," Izzy snapped back. "Now chill out and wait while I find this error."

The digimon with human mind sat back, clearly peeved and unhappy, which was a slightly foreign expression on the non-human face.

The human with a digimon mind just grinned cheerfully. "Just take it in stride Joe! Just think, maybe you'd be able to digivolve!"

Joe looked at his partner, exasperated. "And what would I say when I did? Joe digivolve to Ickyjoemon or something?"

Tentomon, who had been hiding in the corner of the room since the switch had occurred, tilted his head to the side. "Ickyjoemon?"

Gomamon sniggered. "Haha, Ickyjoemon…"

Joe threw his flippers in the air. "Agh! That's not the point of this!"

There was a sudden noise of mad typing and a couple of beeps.

"Got it! Joe, Gomamon, get back to the machine!"

It took five hours of trial and error to return the two back to normal.


	2. Dirty Mind

A/N: Oh yeah, Zenkyoshi is what everyone calls their home. No, it doesn't mean anything in particular. I made up the name years ago with no Japanese experience. It kinda stuck. Takari chapter!

* * *

Background: TK and Kari have just started dating. Matt has psychic powers. Tai has control over fire.

* * *

TK stared at himself in the mirror. "You sure I look okay?"

Matt and Tai both groaned in exasperation. "Yes, for the hundredth time, you look fine," Tai sighed, patting the younger boy on the back. "Come on, it's Kari, she wouldn't care what you looked like as long as you didn't show up in your underwear."

Matt suddenly smirked and made a very suggestive comment with lots of innuendo.

Tai and TK both whirled around at him, TK bright red and Tai gaping.

"Matt," Tai spoke slowly. "Did you just say what I think you said?"

Matt tried to look innocent. "Maaaaaybe…"

There was a very long and awkward pause.

Matt took that opportunity to teleport away.

Tai turned, even-eyed, to look at TK. "Listen, just have a good time, don't even think of doing anything to Kari unless she comes onto you first, and be safe. Now that I'm done with the big brother talk your older brother was supposed to give you, please excuse me as I go hunt him down and flame his ass off."

And with that, Tai sprinted out of the room.


	3. Songwriting

A/N: Not a particularly funny piece, just kinda slice of life.

* * *

Background: Four Digidestined decided to start up a band while they lived in the Digiworld. Said band has Matt on bass, Tai on lead guitar, TK on rhythm and acoustic guitar, and Joe on drums. Digigear is like a radio/cell phone/map/info/emergency thing that holds a spot for digivices (invented by Izzy).

* * *

Matt squinted at the notes and chords, taking into account the lyrics he had written for them. Quietly, he played through the progressions, knowing that this new song sounded more experimental than most of his others.

After some thoughts about instrumentation and the decision that he wanted a violin as one of the main instruments, he immediately began thinking about singers.

Of the four main members of the DDBand (meant to stand for Digidestined Band, even though Tai liked to joke that it meant Designated Driver), one rarely sang, and the other three switched off depending on the style of song. This one was more experimental, and the style seemed to fit someone that wasn't himself...

He touched his Digigear. He waited a few moments as it connected.

"Matt, what's up?"

"Hey TK, I just wrote a new song, you wanna sing it?"


	4. Spiked Punch

A/N: Uh... I don't condone underage drinking, but by the time you get to college it's kind of inevitable. Another Takari chapter, but not fluffy.

* * *

Background: TK and Kari are dating.

* * *

TK and Matt both stared at Kari as she waved around on the floor before them, spinning and falling with a laugh. After a few moments, she stood and embraced TK full on, still dancing insanely.

It took only one whiff of her breath for both boys to realize exactly what had happened.

TK tried to make her calm down. "Kari, what was the last thing you drank?"

She pointed at the punch bowl, giggling. "It was soooo gooood!" she squealed. "I couldn't stop drinking it! Whooo!!"

And she suddenly locked lips with TK, pushing him to the wall as he wailed in protest.

Feeling extremely awkward and knowing that TK would have to deal with this part by himself, Matt strode over the punch bowl and poured a small amount into a cup. He took a sip and almost vomited.

"This thing is spiked!" he shouted over the loud music.

TK, having managed to free himself, was now supporting a still madly giggling Kari as he approached. "That explains a lot!" he shouted back, attempting to fend off a few of Kari's more bold advances. "But who would..."

Both locked eyes with each other as understanding went through them.

"Charizard," they spoke together.

Matt didn't even bother looking for the giant dragon-like pokémon. He just summoned him with the twitch of a finger.

Moments later, Charizard came speeding around the corner, propelled by a blue light that dragged him directly to Matt. "Hey, what gives?!" he growled in protest.

Matt turned to face him, crossing his arms. "How much alcohol did you put in that punch bowl?" he asked with a serious expression.

Charizard's blue eyes flickered from the unamused Matt, to where TK was still slightly preoccupied with Kari, trying to both keep her placated while not leading to anything too inappropriate where they were. "Wouldn't you normally enjoy that?" he pointed out at the younger boy.

"Not when she's drunk! Seriously, how much did you put in?!"

"Uh... three bottles of strawberry Smirnoff Vodka…"

"THREE BOTTLES?!?!" the brothers yelled in shock.

"Charizard, you know that humans don't have the same tolerance you do!" Matt was shouting. "And if she drank as much as I think she did - "

Kari helpfully swung out on TK's arm. "Wheee... I'm sleepy..."

She promptly passed out, TK catching her before she could hit the ground.

TK and Matt proceeded to glare at Charizard, who didn't even bother trying to look innocent.

Matt picked up the bowl. "You drink this," he handed it to Charizard, "and I'm going to do some damage control. Hopefully I can figure out who drank it and who didn't. And try somehow to make sure Tai doesn't find out what just happened because he'd probably flip."

TK nodded. "In the meantime, I'm getting Kari back to her room and taking care of her.

"You do that," Matt responded, and TK picked up his unconscious girlfriend and headed towards the nearest stairs.


	5. He Kind of Deserves It

Background: Nicole is Charizard's trainer. Please read the first couple chapters of "Message of Mewtwo" for more info. Charizard is mates with Scyther and has kids.

* * *

When Nicole learned that Charizard had spiked the punch at the party, she was furious.

"Do you know how hard it was for me to get that vodka for you?!" she shrieked, having grabbed Charizard by the head knobs and shaking him violently. "I'm a freaking minor! The guys at the store all thought I was insane because I kept insisting that the alcohol was supposed to be a present for my Charizard! And you decide to play a prank and you pour half of it into the punch bowl - "

In the next room over, Scyther, the four Scyzards, and Charizard's sister Fireyes winced as they listened in.

"He does kind of deserve it," the female Charizard sighed in reply to the nervous glances from the others.


	6. Domestic Violence

Background: Nicole is psychic and Tai has fire powers.

* * *

Everyone at the dinner table was highly amused as Tai ran for his life out of the kitchen, followed closely by an angry Nicole wielding a sizzling hot frying pan. The two quickly ended up outside, where a few blasts of blue psychic energy and a couple waves of fire created chaos in the yard.

Sora sighed and sipped on her water, ignoring the shouts and Tai's cries of protest. "At least we all know it's never quiet around here."

A few minutes later, the sounds of explosions completely halted. Then Nicole and Tai walked back in cheerfully as though nothing had happened, the former returning to the kitchen with the frying pan. Tai sat down at the table and grabbed for a piece of bread.

Everyone looked at him. "So, how did you manage to placate her?" Ken asked, already halfway done with his pasta.

Tai shrugged. "I apologized."


	7. Typo

Davis peered over Izzy's shoulder. "Do we get to read this report after you're done?"

The older boy groaned. "Yes you do, now let me finish this and go play video games or something."

Davis shrugged, turning to join Veemon, when something on the screen caught his eye. He looked closer. "Difimon?"

Izzy blinked. "Where does it say that?"

"Right here..." and Davis pointed to the erring word.

"Oh, typo."

"… Difimon?!"

Davis was chortling.

"Ugh, I said it was a typo! Go bug someone else!"


	8. Pokemon Trainer Training Humans

Background: Everyone is taking up combat lessons and such, just starting. Construction refers to building their Digiworld Home.

* * *

Nicole grinned proudly. Tai knew she had earned the title of Pokémon Master at the age of thirteen for a reason, and she had trained her team well. He knew that if everyone in the group was going to train to become fighters, they would need that experience she had to aid them (in addition to the various teachers they had found). In particular, they needed both physical and mental conditioning to strengthen themselves personally.

This was something that Nicole apparently had excelled in with her team.

And so now, she was officially training the humans.

"All right, that's everyone!" she announced as Mimi made it to the finishing point, gasping. "Everyone rest, get some water, meet back at the field in half an hour!"

They had just finished a run around the grounds, over various terrain and whatnot. Nicole had been pleased to see that everyone was in fairly good shape, and as a result had decided to push them harder.

Some of the less active humans had a little trouble completing it.

Tai was thanking his years of soccer training for giving him such good endurance. And inwardly, he had decided that Nicole had to be an alien or something. But then again, she had started up running towards the beginning of construction, and continued it; she had to be extremely good by this point.

Curious about what else she was planning, he approached her.

"So what else are we doing?" he asked.

She turned to him, grinning. "Stretching, plyos, sprints, core exercises, flexibility work, more running, probably do some suicides, and then we hit the weight room."

He stared at her. "Are you trying to kill us or something?"

She shrugged. "Hey, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. We'll probably be hella' sore and tired tomorrow, which'll be good for mentally pushing ourselves to repeat what we're doing today."

The fact that Nicole was partaking in everything with them just made Tai stare even more.

"You're both a sadist and a masochist, you know that?" he commented.

She glanced back at him. "Alternatively, we could spar all day."

"I like that idea better."


	9. Not in the Living Room

Background: Tai can control fire.

* * *

When Tai learned that it was Charizard who had spiked the punch at the party, he thought it fitting of the pokémon and hilarious at the same time.

When he discovered that his sister had gotten drunk and passed out as a result, he nearly exploded the room.

Matt dragged the enraged boy outside, who was absolutely fuming. "Tai, if you want to flame things you're going to do it outside, not in the living room."


	10. Oil

A/N: Ha, totally forgot to mention that the Digiworld is allowing everyone to understand each other regardless of language, which is making language learning much easier. And this drabble introduces the weapon element of this timeline, mwaha...

* * *

Background: Sora fights with a sword that comes apart like a whip when she unlocks it.

* * *

Davis was sitting in his room with Veemon, reminiscing about more innocent days when all cared about was soccer and Kari, when Sora poked her head into the room.

"Hey Davis, do you have any oil I can borrow?"

He blinked. "No… I'm not really a cook, and I thought we had plenty of cooking oil in the kitchen."

Sora sighed. "Not that oil Davis. The locking mechanism in my sword's jammed."

"Oh! That oil! Yeah, I've got plenty!"


	11. Oops

Background: Everyone is learning combat. TK and Davis have abilities which are obvious by the end of the drabble.

* * *

TK and Davis were fighting as Yolei and Cody watched with worried faces. Fists were flying and they were shouting as they moved back and forth across the floor.

"They're really going at it this time..." Yolei commented as she saw Davis dodge and respond with a roundhouse kick.

Cody glanced up at her, then back to the fight. "I just hope neither of them gets hurt. They aren't very good at controlling their blows."

Yolei winced as Davis made a wild swing and TK blocked, using the leverage to flip the other over onto his back. "That had to hurt…"

Davis however, seemed perfectly fine as he somehow managed to jump back to his feet. The two continued their fight, punching and kicking here and there, dodging blows and occasionally connecting.

After a couple minutes, the two spectators glanced at each other again. "This is a long bout…" Cody mused, obviously thinking back on his own experience in kendo.

"Yeah, and this is only - " Yolei stopped as TK executed a perfect back spin kick and Davis fell to the ground, unmoving. "Looks like they're done."

TK was sweaty and panting, as he leaned over to breathe. "All right, we're tied now, one more round to go."

Davis didn't answer.

"Davis, you okay?"

No reply.

TK paled and knelt down. "Davis! Davis! Oh come on, you've got to be okay, I didn't even kick you that hard – oh… oops…"

Cody and Yolei hurried over, also kneeling by Davis' still body. "What do you mean, 'oops'?" Yolei asked, looking fearful.

To their surprise, TK looked more embarrassed than anything. "I think I accidentally froze him."

Indeed, Davis' face was frozen in an expression of surprise as though something were about to hit him in the face, and from the positions of his limbs, it looked more like TK had just knocked over a statue than someone sprawled on the ground.

TK buried his head in his hands. "Gah, now we have to redo this round, I'm so bad at separating physical from crest power..."

Cody patted him on the shoulder. "Well, from the looks of it you would have won anyway."

They waited until TK's ability wore off, which took a few more minutes. Davis plopped fully onto the ground, looking even more surprised to suddenly find himself on the floor.

He sat up. "So I guess I lost?"

TK looked down. "I uh, accidentally froze you right before the last hit. It's probably more fair for us to redo that round."

Davis stared at TK, before laughing. "It's fine, you won. I could tell that kick was about to hit me anyway, besides now I got to miss feeling it and just have an aching head."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Lemme grab some water, then let's go again."

TK smiled, and helped Davis to his feet. Yolei and Cody sighed in relief, and proceeded to return to where they had been watching from before.

Davis did however, grimace a little. "You know though, it is kinda unfair that you can control time and all I get is lightning..."

"Your lightning is awesome and looks cool."

"Hmm, maybe I can 'accidentally' use it..."

"Oi!"


	12. The War is Over

A/N: Um....

WARNING!!

WARNING!!

This is a very angsty drabble. If you would like to stay in the realm of humor, please skip this drabble.

And this is what happens when you work on a certain other dramatic piece and are in the mood for emotional stuff. I'm really in a writing mood today.

I'm writing these more for the sake of writing and enjoying it than anything else, and some of these drabble scenes have been in my head for a while, so please forgive me for being so sporadic and probably writing these often...

* * *

Background: This takes place roughly a month after the official end of a war deemed "The Crystal Wars". I doubt I will ever write up a story detailing this war unless someone absolutely begs me.

* * *

He was back there again, in those rooms, where all he could see was malicious faces, the flashes of blades and spikes, the chains, the blood, her eyes dull and blank...

Trapped. He was helpless, confined, powerless, he could hear her screaming, his own vocal cords were raw with his own cries, then there was pain, humiliation, evil laughter, more pain, and he realized he had never left, he was still there, only she was gone, and he was alone, he was afraid, he knew they would never relent until he revealed the information but wouldn't, he couldn't, not when she was there next to him, after all they had done to her...

There was red, the red of that room, the gray of that cell, the stone of the place where she had been, where they had forced him to watch, all he could hear was those screams... and there was just pain, the splintering of bones, the metallic lash, and suddenly he could see her eyes, bright for one last moment as the spike came stabbing down into her chest –

"Wake up! It's not real!"

Tai sat up straight, covers and a pillow thrown over to the side as he gasped for air, suddenly aware that he had been yelling. Agumon was right in front of him, concerned and sad.

It took a moment for him to register everything around him. Desk, soccer ball, dresser, clothes – all the signs of him being in his room, safe and close to the others.

"Did I wake you up?" he asked softly, gazing at his partner.

Agumon gingerly stepped forward and embraced him. "Don't worry about it," he replied. "I'm here for you. You're home, surrounded by everyone who cares about you, and we're all here to help you."

Tai gave a hollow laugh. "Yeah... damn, I hope I didn't wake anyone else up."

"I think they'd rather you did, so they could come and be with you."

"Yeah, I guess."

The feeling of guilt welled up in him. It was still there, fresh from what had been real only weeks earlier, revived almost nightly in his nightmares.

_But she's gone. She's gone, it's all my fault, and nothing will bring her back. _

"It's okay Tai. The war's over."

_No it's not. Maybe it is for everyone else, but it's not for me._


	13. Join the Table

A/N: Spoiler for the last drabble! The girl survived, and is one of the five human females at Zenkyoshi. I'll let you guess who it is.

I guess I should have put up the Disclaimer - I don't own pokemon thing a while back, huh?

* * *

The first thing Ken noticed when he walked into the kitchen that morning was the singing. Suspicious, he strode towards the source, noting it was from the dining room where everyone usually ate (and as a result, it was an obnoxiously large table).

Somehow, he was unsurprised when he saw who it was.

Matt, Yolei, and Nicole were dancing on top of the table, singing some ridiculous song at the top of their lungs and looking as though they were having the time of their lives. Gomamon sat between them, crooning along in harmony while swaying back and forth.

Ken was about to duck out when Yolei spotted him. "Ken!" she called. "Come join us!"

It was difficult to say no to Yolei when she was stubborn enough.


	14. First Break

A/N: It's actually true, you don't need a lot of force to break a board. Yay physics!

* * *

Background: Everyone is learning combat. Davis apparently is learning some physics.

* * *

CRACK!

Everyone in the room at the time turned towards the source, wondering what could have happened this time.

Yolei was standing with her palm out, staring at said palm in wonder. Right in front of her was Ken, who was holding two pieces of a wooden board and looking extremely proud of her.

Then Yolei jumped up and down, ecstatic.

"Whooo!! I just broke my first board, this is so awesome!!'

Davis waved a hand at her. "Psh, you don't need a lot of force to break a board, and that strike is easy."

She glared at him. "Way to rain on my parade, goggle head."

Everyone else ignored Davis and proceeded to congratulate her.


	15. Singing Lessons

A/N: This is a real vocal exercise. :P

* * *

"I looooove to sing ah yes I dooooo… I loooove to sing ah yes I doooooo…"

Then Tai started coughing. Mimi sighed and dropped her hands from the piano.

"You're belting it, try singing a little softer. And remember, breathe from your stomach," she advised, watching as the other boy grabbed his glass of water.

Tai took a gulp. "I didn't think singing could be so tough," he commented, placing his elbows on his stand. "And I keep missing notes!"

Mimi gave him a smile. "Your intonation is way better than it used to be though."

"Really?"

"I'm sincere, aren't I?"

Tai grinned. "Sweet. Okay, lemme try this again."

He stood back a little with his arms at his sides and waited. Mimi placed her hands on the piano again gave him his starting note.

"I loooove to sing ah yes I doooo..."


	16. Tree Killer

Background: Everyone is practicing combat. Joe fights with a spear.

* * *

Joe readied himself, gripping his spear in preparation for his attempt at the target. He squinted at the innocent looking slab of rock, focusing and gathering his inner energy so that he could accurately attack and pierce it through.

With a cry, he charged forward, then jumped high into the air, aiming his spear.

He completely missed the target.

Instead, he jumped over it and ended up hitting a nearby tree behind, embedding the spear deep into the trunk.

Still being a short ways from the ground, Joe hung from the spear and glared at the rock he was supposed to have hit instead. Then with a sigh, he placed both feet on the trunk and pulled the spear out, flipping gracefully as he did so and landing safely back on the ground.

He was about to return to his starting point when he heard the distinct sound of something cracking. Whirling around to see what it was, he suddenly saw that the tree was leaning backwards from the point where the spear had been and he heard noises of splintering, breaking wood.

Helplessly, he watched the entire tree fell with a huge crash.

There were a few moments of shocked silence.

Over at the starting point, Palmon and Mimi stared at him. "Joe..." Mimi began slowly.

"Tree killer!"

Joe and Mimi both turned towards Palmon, who had a look of disbelief on her face. "You're supposed to be a doctor, and you killed a tree!" she shouted.

Joe winced. "It's not like I was trying to kill it," he responded defensively. "Besides, I was already going to be killing the rock."

"Accidental treeslaughter then? You're still a tree killer!"

Mimi threw up her hands in exasperation. "Okay, enough with that, just go ahead and try again Joe."


	17. Airball

Davis dribbled the ball, hearing his teammates as they called out and tried to escape their defenders. Taking a chance, he drove the ball into the paint and shot the ball.

The ball made a beautiful arc over the basket, not even touching the rim.

"Air-ball! Air-ball! Air-ball!"

He glared at TK.

"Oh shut up TP."


	18. Wrong Song

A/N: Haha, I wrote a pokemon one...

And regarding me potentially slacking off on "Survival", well the newest chapter is currently five pages... to put it into perspective, Chapter Fourteen was twenty. Woot.

* * *

Background: Ken adopted a group of four wild pokemon. Pikachu is the youngest and most inexperienced of Nicole's full team.

* * *

Ken was completely unused to how pokémon battles worked. Fortunately for him, Nicole was a battling veteran and had been more than happy to teach him. In fact, she had insisted that he learn since he had a team, in case he ever ended up in the Pokémon world and had to battle (it was part of the regular culture, she had explained).

With a sigh, he glanced over at the four beside him. "Okay, I choose you Jigglypuff."

The small, pink and round creature bounced onto the field. "All right, here I go!" she shouted, pumping one arm into the air.

As soon as Izzy had called the start, Nicole let out a command. "Pikachu, Agility!"

The small mouse pokémon whizzed around the field, almost daring the other to catch him.

Ken knew that this was more of an exercise in strategy than a full out fight. Trying to remember what sorts of abilities Jigglypuff had, he yelled out the first thing he could think of that might be effective. "Jigglypuff, Sing!"

Jigglypuff turned and stared at Ken blankly. For a moment, the boy thought maybe he had commanded something the pokémon didn't know, but then remembered that Jigglypuff was also unused to battling in a setting with trainers.

"Uh... what am I supposed to sing?" she asked.

Ken's mind raced.

"First thing that comes to your mind?"

Jigglypuff turned back around, thought for a moment, and then took a deep breath.

"I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie wooorrld - "

"Aah, not that song! Change it!"

Both Nicole and Pikachu broke down laughing.


	19. Guess I'll Go Eat Worms

Background: Nicole's little genetic mutation has funny side effects. This is one of them.

* * *

Cody was absently humming a song he'd heard was well known by children in the United States as he made his way from the orchard back to the house. He heard the sounds of squishing mud, and calmly altered his path so as to go where there was more firm ground; inwardly, he thought that maybe they should have built more of a trail to and from certain areas.

He put words to the song he'd been humming. "Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat worms..."

A weird song, but appropriate only because it had rained the day before and now there were bound to be worms close to the surface anyway.

"You obviously don't know what's for dinner."

Cody stopped and realized that Joe was passing not too far from him, apparently leaving the house. The eldest of the Digidestined had a slightly disturbed look on his face.

"Hey Joe. What's for dinner then?"

Joe's brows furrowed. "What you were just singing about. Nicole said she was 'appeasing her inner Pidgey' or something; the non-humans all seem to love it. I just lost my appetite and left."

Cody sweatdropped. "Why do we still have her on dinner duty?"


	20. It Ends Today

A/N: And I ended up writing another serious drabble. It's directly connected to the first serious drabble I wrote for this, "The War is Over". There is also a hint of a spoiler to "Survival" in this (aside from probably the most obvious one... I've probably just made everyone's day...)

* * *

Background: Takes place during the last battle and final day of "the Crystal Wars". Katars are an Indian sword/knife like weapon held with a horizontal grip. If ever I were to detail the war, I would not be writing this part of the story from this particular character's point of view.

* * *

He was busy fighting off enemy digimon when he heard it echo from his Digigear.

"I found Tai!"

His heart lit up at the news; it immediately sank as he heard the next words.

"I need help, I can't do this alone, we're in Cell Block 5D, he's… he's dying, he's been stabbed, I can't get him out, he's going to die, he's – Tai, hold on, hold on, don't die - "

He couldn't tell who it was screaming across the line, the person's voice was so strained and hysterical; he couldn't even check his Digigear to see who, because he had to dodge as a set of claws nearly ripped his head open. But now he was more anxious and frightened for their leader than ever as he swiped out and fought back, punching his blades into the evil digimon before him and pulling away, watching grimly as it evaporated into data.

He thought he caught a glimpse of Angemon, but his partner was too far away to get to him; he continued trying to fight off enemies, his heart racing, as he tried to find some way to break free and make his way to where Tai was.

Another voice broke over the Digigear.

"In the area, I'm on my way," came Matt's hurried, frantic shout.

He briefly smiled, but had to duck and the flip as a ball of flame flew at him. This time a blade came at his side, he blocked with the sides of his katars, kicking out at the enemy, then kicking backwards as another came from behind –

"In the dungeons, 5D right?"

Joe was always the reliable one; he was nearby.

TK roared and spun with both blades out, clearing the enemies away from him. He bid their time to slow, so he could get the advantage, then jumped and brought his katars down on one's head. A spin to the back knocked over something else, but he didn't have time to think as yet another claw came for his stomach.

Unable to escape from the many enemies before him, he dodged, parried, and hoped.

_We're going to get both of them out alive. Then we'll win this war. We've spent too long getting to where we are; the war is going to end today._


	21. Hey, it's a Eucalyptus

A/N: Wow... I can't stop writing these... I guess they were all a long time coming. I also felt a need to redeem Kari. Oh, and pain meds are awful, awful things.

* * *

Background: Kari has the ability to heal others.

* * *

The aftermath of any major battle in the Digiworld was always messy, especially since all the humans now participated as active fighters. Even though their abilities had been refined over the years, it was still very easy to get hurt; especially compared to such creatures like digimon, humans were just _squishy_, as Joe liked to put it.

Kari wiped her brow as she took her hand off of Sora's shoulder. "Done."

Sora nodded as she stood, checking over her body and waving a few limbs to make sure they reacted normally. "Thanks Kari," she smiled with gratitude. "It must be so tiring to do this after battles."

"I admit, it is tiring, but as long as everyone can return home in one piece, I'm more than happy to keep going."

"Hey, it's a eucalyptus tree…"

Both girls turned to an extremely dazed red-headed boy who was currently lying not far away on a makeshift cot. Sora stared at him with confusion visible on her face.

Kari was cringing. "Joe shot him up with tons of painkillers," she explained. "I've already healed him, but he's still pretty out of it."

Sora winced in sympathy.

Izzy turned his head slowly, his gaze still fixed on his tree of interest. "Eucalyptus… native to Australia… there is no koala... oh, there's an anthill…"

He caught both girls still staring at him and moaned. "Oh come on, I still have those drugs in my system, I'm dizzy, have a headache, and I can't focus on anything. Give me a break."


	22. Long Birthday

Background: Time ratio between the Digiworld and the real world is one year to one week. Everyone ages as they would in the real world.

* * *

It had been so long since anyone checked a calendar to see how the time difference in the Digiworld matched with that in the real world, that when a few particular days arrived in the real world, the Zenkyoshi residents were usually a little unprepared.

It was as Cody and Armadillomon were passing by the calendar that they stopped and stared, realizing exactly what day it was back home.

"It's my birthday today..." Cody mused, staring. "Or I guess technically, this next month and a half is my birthday..."

Armadillomon grinned. "You should get a present every day then! Happy Birthday Cody!"


	23. Three Days of Memory

A/N: And thus, the last drabble spawned other ones regarding dates. It was kind of fun, I got to go look up my timelines to figure things out.

* * *

Although they kept their eyes on the actual dates back in the real world, it didn't stop them from celebrating them on their given day in the Digital World.

In particular were three days – August 1st, August 5th, and March 15th.

August 1st because it was the day that everything started for the Digidestined – their meeting, their journey, their destiny; it was the day they had become who they were.

August 5th was the day they had met Nicole and her team for the first time, gone on a huge adventure, and become close friends. It was also the day that the younger Digidestined and the newly recruited pokémon, including Ken's team, had met; in essence, it was the day that every single Zenkyoshi resident had been together for the first time.

March 15th was the day that Nicole and her team's journey had begun, with their travel between worlds and their eventual return.

The first of August was always a more serious event, as it signified what had practically been a war; memorials were made that day, about the ones who had been lost in the battles, and what sacrifices had been made. The fifteenth of March was similar due to what had happened towards the end of that journey, and the effects it had had on those involved.

In contrast, the fifth of August was basically just a giant party at the beach.

For some reason, they all preferred it that way.


	24. Dude, where's my motorcycle?

A/N: I felt a need to write something non-angsty Tai.

* * *

Background: Tai stole a motorcyle from the enemy towards the beginning of the Crystal Wars. Matt is psychic. This drabble obviously takes place after the Crystal Wars.

* * *

It was a normal mid-afternoon with various beings wandering on the main floor of the house when Tai burst in, looking confused.

"Hey, has anyone seen my motorcycle?" he called out.

There was a chorus of No's and some shaking heads. Sora tilted her head to one side. "Did you need it for something?"

"I was just gonna' do some maintenance, I haven't ridden the thing in a while, but it was gone when I went to go check it."

Sora blinked. "Somehow, I can imagine you as the kind of guy who could lose your motorcycle…"

Tai groaned at her. "I didn't lose my motorcycle, I left it in the shed where I always keep it..."

He suddenly had a bright idea.

"Matt, can you find it for me?" he asked, turning to his best friend who had been lounging in a nearby chair with a newspaper.

The blond sighed and closed his eyes for a few moments. Tai waited expectantly, but realized something was off when his friend's face suddenly contorted into an expression of disbelief. "You find it?" he asked.

Matt looked at Tai weakly. "Yeah. Kari stole it."

The sound of silence filled the room.

Tai finally sighed in defeat and held his head in his hands. "Figures. She's grown up, I guess I can't really stop her any more."

"She takes after you," Sora commented with a smile.

Matt shook his head, still in disbelief over the image he had seen. "I just think it's ironic that the guy who stole a motorcycle gets it stolen by his younger sister."


	25. June 2nd

A/N: And here come the date-related drabbles. This one is fairly serious; it's also entirely pokemon related.

* * *

Background: Stellath is not a pokemon - she's a dragon whose world was practically demolished. This involves an extremely major event that occurred towards the end of the journey.

* * *

June 2nd was the only day that excluded mostly everyone from the memorial. The others knew what had happened and respected this wish from those were involved and did recognize it.

Nicole, her original team of six, and one dragon sat silently around a campfire on a faraway cliff, remembering. They had conversed, talked about those days, their feelings, their losses, and how they had moved on.

With a smile, the only human in the group stood, turning towards the others.

"To the friends we traveled with," she began.

"To those who fought this day," Charizard continued, his eyes solemn for once.

"To their courage and sacrifice," Scyther spoke, raising a blade high.

"To those who lost their lives," Blastoise rumbled in her deep tenor.

"We will always honor your choice," Venusaur said softly, tears forming as he remembered a bond lost.

"And may we always remember this day," Raichu stood tall, gazing high into the sky.

"And know this battle was not in vain," Gengar's voice was surprisingly strong, filled with hope.

"And you have made us who we are," Stellath finished, her voice deep as she nodded, being her full size for once.

Over one thousand teams had laid down their lives that day to defend the continent from an evil no one expected.

Over seven hundred had been completely annihilated.

Only four had made it out without any losses.

And to the sorrow of one of these four, the other team that had been their companions for nearly their entire journey had been one of the seven hundred.

They always remembered this day.


	26. June 2nd, Year 186

A/N: Direct sequel to the last drabble. Still serious, but not as much.

* * *

In year 186 of Zenkyoshi, seven others joined those at the June 2nd memorial. They would be the first ones, and only ones ever to also take part in it.

As Stellath finished her sentence, the new seven gazed blankly at the other regulars.

Nicole groaned. "We've been doing this for years, and yes you're included as those that we're referring to. You should be anyway, just because you happen to be here with us right now doesn't mean we should leave you out."

The boy beside her frowned. "Yeah, but it still makes me feel weird."

Nicole said nothing, but stared into the fire with a faraway look. The boy realized with the memories of this day and everything included, it was still extremely painful to think about those who had joined for the memorial.

Without another word, he pulled the girl who had once been his battling rival and traveling companion into a hug.

"It's okay. Maybe we're not alive, but we're still here regardless. We're here, we're all proud of what you've accomplished, and I'm glad that we can all be together again. I mean, eleven out of twelve months of the year as physical spirits is pretty awesome, right?"

Nicole let out a choked sob. "Can I cry now?"

"Yes."

The two sat for a few moments, sitting there embracing each other, remembering everything and knowing that things would be better for years to come.

Someone wolf whistled.

"Shut up Charizard," they both said, grinning.


	27. Temptation

A/N: I couldn't resist writing a little prequel. Please note that all the conspirators are female. Bad Kari.

* * *

Background: Takes place after the Crystal Wars.

* * *

Gatomon squirmed uncomfortably, still trying to shake water out of her fur. She glared over at Yolei who had noticed and was smirking at her with a triumphant look.

"Just you wait, I'll get you back somehow," she muttered. "Making me take a bath in mustard indeed, I had to wash off everything..."

A few beings away from her, Raichu had just finished allowing Mimi to dress her up as gothic lolita and was now looking around the circle for someone else to pass the torch to. Her eyes fell on Kari, who was sitting next to Gatomon. "Kari, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to steal Tai's motorcycle."

Kari dropped the can of soda she had just been about to take a sip out of. "What?"

Raichu grinned at her. "Yup, that's your dare."

"B-but it's Tai's motorcycle! You know how much he loves that thing!"

"We also remember that he like, originally stole it," Mimi commented, letting her chin rest in her hand as she looked interested. "He can't exactly complain."

"Yeah, I remember, I was there," Nicole said thoughtfully. "He even had to hotwire it."

Slowly, as the circle of beings began looking at her expectantly, Kari felt her face beginning to flush. "Now wait a minute, I thought that the ground rules we set up originally were - "

"Nothing inappropriate," stated Palmon, "and no violence. And nothing involving leaving the grounds."

"I think stealing Tai's motorcycle passes those criteria pretty well," Scyther nodded, looking strangely mischievous despite being a normally mother-like and responsible pokémon. "Think about it, all you're doing is borrowing it for a short while."

"Just, you know, without his permission," Yolei added.

Kari stared at the entire group.

_I will not give in. I will not give in. I will not give in. Except that I've always wanted to ride that motorcycle. And thanks to the war, I know how to hotwire things. It's only for a short time. Everyone's looking for me. This is my dare... no, I will not give in... this is really tempting... I could just grab it, take it for a short ride, and bring it back, he wouldn't have to know…_


	28. Challenge Your Abilities

Background: Matt has psychic abilities, Tai's involve fire, and Davis' involve lightning. The Zenkyoshi grounds include a lake.

* * *

Matt looked at Tai smugly as a huge ball of psychic energy flew gracefully across the lake surface, dissipating as it reached the cliff wall on the other side. "Beat that Kamiya," he challenged with a smile.

Tai only grinned back. With a concentrated look on his face, he finally stood straight, both hands held out as he shouted a battle cry.

"Hyaaaaa!!"

A ball of flame formed, as the fire expanded and whirled into something that was barely contained. It shot across the lake, steam and waves forming in its wake as it went by. The fireball vanished the moment it reached the cliff wall.

Tai smirked. "I even had to stop it from getting out of control. You at that point?"

"What're you guys doing?"

Both boys turned to see Davis, looking at them inquisitively.

"Obviously, we're being manly and challenging each other at who's better with their crest abilities," Matt answered, shrugging. "Right now we're just shooting things across the lake."

Davis looked ecstatic. "Oo, can I join?"

"Sure, but - "

Davis went into a stance and a giant ball of electricity formed in the air.

Both Tai and Matt paled. "Davis, wait, not over the - "

"Hiyaaah!"

"… lake."

Matt had to teleport them out safely before the three of them were electrocuted.


	29. I just want you to knooooow

A/N: Yes, this is partially inspired by the BackDorm Boys. Go youtube it if you don't know what I'm talking about.

* * *

Background: The residents hold a yearly performance show in which everyone showcases something they've been working on throughout the year. Matt was out of commission for the last several months due to something called evil digimon and getting possessed. Yes it's a fic idea, and yes it was written into the Zenkyoshi timeline a very long time ago.

* * *

Matt coughed nervously in front of the audience (which consisted of all members of Zenkyoshi). "So..." he began. "I don't really have anything prepared for today's performance for I think pretty obvious reasons, so as a last minute thing, I'm going to do something kind of different."

With an embarrassed grin, he brought his arms out wide. "Tonight, I will be lip-syncing and acting along overdramatically to Backstreet Boys music, which I hope will be entertaining and fun to watch. Feel free to join in."

As everyone laughed, Matt sighed. He had really wanted to avoid doing this, but given the circumstances and all the things he had been unable to do as of late, he didn't mind doing something so ridiculous as this. However, he only had one requirement.

Everyone gazed at him expectantly, but Matt just looked pointedly into the audience. "Come on TK, get up on stage with me."

TK looked only slightly taken aback, as though he had half expected this. "What, so I don't get to watch you?" he asked with a smile.

"Hey, if I'm going to be embarrassing myself in front of everyone, I'm doing it with the guy who suggested this idea in the first place."


	30. How to End a Drought

Background: There are crops on the Zenkyoshi grounds because everyone tries to stay self-sustainable. Sora has power over the wind/air, and Joe has abilities with water.

* * *

When Mimi came back from her monthly check of the food supplies, she gave the worrying news that they were low due to a poor harvest the year before and higher consumption (which everyone guessed was because of the higher incidence of battles and the like). She also reported that if the harvest was still poor the current year, they would likely need to do a large amount of trading with a Digiworld source, or otherwise buy a great amount of food from the real world (which was problematic because at least in yen and US dollars, everyone was rather poor). As they were currently in a drought, it seemed likely that buying more food would be the most probable solution to their current problem.

Sora stood up.

"Joe, come with me."

The boy in question also stood. "Okay... what're we doing exactly?"

"Helping fix the food shortage."

Joe's confusion was evident by his voice as the two left the house. "What? How do we do that?"

The others just stared and assumed that Sora had come up with some interesting idea and went back to discussing the problem at hand.

Roughly an hour later, it was pouring outside.

As everyone now discussed the probability of the drought actually being over, Sora and Joe wandered back inside, soaked but looking pleased with themselves.

"There we go, one rainstorm for the crops," she announced with a tired smile, plopping back down on a couch. Joe sat himself next to her, trying to wipe the water from his glasses, also looking somewhat exhausted.

The others stared. "You guys made it rain?" Patamon asked with a curious look.

At the couple's victorious grins, everyone glanced at each other in shock.

"Well, that... solves our harvest problem if you can keep that up," Izzy nodded, still staring.

"If," Joe stated firmly, his eyes slightly glazed over as his body wavered from side to side. "That was way more tiring than it needed to be. So if you don't mind me, I'm going to go change into something dry and pass out."


	31. You Guys Suck

A/N: Sequel to the last drabble. Involves a reference to the first Pokemon movie (in which a storm is psychically created).

* * *

Background: Matt and Nicole have psychic abilities, but for different reasons (Crest power related and genetic mutation, respectively). Nicole was invited to Mewtwo's get-together in the first movie (she didn't make it) and due to her abilities, didn't have her memory of the event wiped and later deduced what had happened (via TR records and such).

* * *

"Seriously, Mewtwo made a storm?" Matt asked again in complete disbelief.

"Yes," Nicole answered tiredly, still waving her hand in circles in the air. "I don't know if this is exactly how he did it, but it sure is draining."

Matt frowned. "Don't overdo it."

"I won't, I know my limits."

"Uh, and you always push those limits and end up like half dead."

"... true dat."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Seriously, stop being so stubborn and just ask for help when you need it. Here, let me see what I can do."

With that, he placed a hand on Nicole's shoulder and began to feel his way into the energy field that she was creating, adding his own power and control into it. Soon, the world was a whirlwind of moving force, wind circling around them and churning the skies into a grey cloudy ocean filled with falling droplets and roaring thunder.

As the rain came down on them, they grinned at their work.

"Awesome," Nicole commented, letting the water hit her face as she closed her eyes.

Matt laughed. "Come on, let's get back to the house before we get drenched."

They turned to head up the hill towards the back door into the kitchen.

Sora and Joe were standing there, staring.

Matt and Nicole tried to look innocent.

"... you guys suck."


	32. Unfair

A/N: ...and sequel to the _last _drabble. Oh these are too much fun. Mostly pokemon related.

* * *

Background: Changeon is a *made up* pokemon that is an evolution of Eevee - has the ability to change forms (in my defense, I was like twelve at the time). The barn is basically the pokemon house.

* * *

Changeon laughed as her Castform morph transformed back into her preferred form, that of an Eevee. She frolicked for a short while in the rain, excited that her use of the ability Rainy Day had worked, which meant that as long as she had the time to rest every day, there would no longer be any droughts. She could even do it in the middle of summer as a prank on everyone!

Then, as she jumped off the barn roof and hopped easily down planks and platforms to land cleanly on the ground, she ran into four humans looking clearly unhappy.

"... seriously? Seriously?!" Sora cried out in exasperation.


	33. Dancer

A/N: This is the last drabble I'm allowed to upload today.

This was inspired by some dance performances online that I was watching - specifically, Chinese Dai Peacock dance. There was one in particular that was very dramatic and had mixes of slow and fast parts, with fairly modern sounding music that didn't sound very stereotypically Chinese - if only I could find it again (gah!) It was a student performance in any case. Oh, and I've always considered Kari a dancer. Takari hints.

* * *

Background: Kari dances.

* * *

She was beautiful when she danced.

He could see her passion and love for movement, as limbs moved gracefully and her body spun with poise, arcing backwards as she posed. Her hands gestured as though mimicking the movements of water, flowing with ease from her shoulders to her fingers; again she spun, her head tilted, her smile illuminating her face with joy and light.

The music sped up, and she twirled, one leg bending upwards but her balance never wavering. With a few leaps, she was suddenly bent low on the ground, stretching her body forward and up towards the sky, extending until she was one curve that reached from her feet; with another hop, her arms gracefully raised as she turned and moved sinuously, in time with the music but somehow with a slight freedom that exposed her emotions in the dance.

Then her arms were flying, lithe but with control as she leaped and kicked, more intensity evident in both her movements and in the more rhythmic, but dramatic change in the music. Her hands made more gestures, but imitating birds this time, both graceful yet more frantic; her untied hair framed her face, whipping back and forth as it followed every jump and bend.

It came to an end slowly, the music losing its rhythmic touch and instead becoming awash with one last sound that echoed as she twirled and posed, one arm raised as she knelt to the side, gazing up towards the sky.

There was a quiet pause.

"Kari, that was amazing," TK breathed, awestruck by the performance.

Kari smiled, wiping her brow and panting a little from the exertion of her dance. "Thank you," she answered, coming to rest against the wall next to TK. "So do you think it's ready?"

"Yes, it's ready! I'm still in awe by the fact that you choreographed that yourself, and then your dancing itself – wow, I can't say much more than that. I can't wait to see it onstage with all the lighting and costuming done, it's going to look so cool!"

Kari laughed, looking down at her current clothing (a tanktop and sweatpants). "Yeah, imagine if I decided to perform wearing this."

"I still think it'd be fine if you did. Wow, I'm still... wow. Just wow."

As Kari excused herself to grab some water, TK inwardly played over the dance again in his head, wondering what it would be like when she actually performed it. Everything she had done was beautiful, the movements, the jumps, the grace and poise with which she did it, and the smile on her face that showed just how much she enjoyed it...

Seeing her with such elated joy and passion as she danced was what he loved most.


	34. Simulation

Disclaimer: I do not own the monster in this story - it belongs to Nexon.

A/N: I suggest going to Youtube and looking up "Mabinogi G9 Final" to see why Davis is so freaked out. I would be too. X.X

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"

Davis was running for his life as a humongous red demon monster with swords as wings clawed at him. The creature roared and let out a wave of nearly black smoke at him, which he did his best not to breathe in.

He rolled out of the area of attack. "Izzy!" he shouted into the microphone of his headset. "I've already shot bolts at it and whacked it a few times, I don't feel pain when I get injured, and now my left arm won't move, I think your simulation works! Can I leave yet?!"

"No, there's still one more feature that needs to be tested."

Davis had been seriously hoping to avoid that part.

"You're kidding me!" he started complaining, but had to duck from a whirlwind of flying blades. He fended them off and continued running. "You seriously want me to let myself get killed?!" he finished.

"The simulation's programmed to end if you die," Izzy answered cheerfully. Davis swore that the other boy had to be smiling at his misfortune.

He growled. "But - "

Davis was suddenly thrown across the room; he had failed to notice the incoming claw. As he fell to the ground, he gulped as he saw the monster charge directly at him. He screamed again, realized his vision had gone dark, and...

He was back in Izzy's lab.

Izzy was indeed smiling. "This is awesome," he exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. "We can practice and test combat without harm to our actual physical selves! If I can make it so multiple people can be involved at the same time, we can even work on strategy. Yes!"

He jumped out of his chair in front of the screen and began doing a little victory dance.

Davis just frowned, pulling the electrodes off his head. "Glad it worked. The fight felt real too. A little too real. Now, can..."

He didn't make it any further before vomiting into a nearby trash can.

"You owe me," he glared at Izzy, who looked slightly apologetic and left to fetch a couple towels and some water.


	35. Hair Braiding

A/N: Return of drabbles! Inspired slightly by the fact that I never learned how to braid my own hair. It didn't help when I cut it to boy-hair length either.

* * *

Yolei frowned as she tried to weave the three divided parts of her hair into a braid down the back. "I swear, this should be way easier than it is," she grumbled, as she lost one part and as a result, the rest of them.

"Are you sure you don't need help Yolei?" Hawkmon asked from where he was lounging on her bed.

She nodded. "Yeah, I need to figure out how to do this myself," she answered, trying to bite down some frustration as she began parting her hair again.

"Or you could just cut your hair..."

"No!" Yolei protested. "I like my hair! It's just... hard to deal with in battle..."

Hawkmon watched, apparently thinking as Yolei once again attempted to braid her own hair. He perked up a bit as a thought came to him. "Didn't Mimi used to braid her hair before she cut it?"

Yolei dropped her hands. "Yeah, she did!" she exclaimed, a bright look in her eyes. "Perfecto! I can go ask her for tips!"


	36. Growing Boy

A/N: I would imagine that Cody's like ten or something, I don't know when this would take place really.

* * *

Background: Cody still does kendo (though now he puts it to more practical use...). A hakama is like big Japanese martial arts pants worn by samurai and by those who practice such things as kendo and aikido.

* * *

Sora held up the hakama, eying the long rip. "Wow Cody, what were you doing?" she asked incredulously.

The boy shifted a little. "Just some training outside, since it's so nice out today," he answered, shrugging. "I really don't know how I managed to rip my hakama, I just sort of looked down, and... it was ripped."

Holding the fabric together, Sora checked the seams and the hem. "Well, I can definitely fix it. But this hakama's getting pretty worn out, it might be time to get a new one."

She glanced over at Cody, who looked a little defensive. "But this one still works perfectly fine."

"Cody, you may not have noticed this, but you've grown." Sora gazed up and down the boy's height. "Quite a bit. Just in general, you're going to need new clothes."

Cody scrunched up his face. "Well, okay then... wow Sora, you sound a lot like my mom."

Sora just laughed. "That's my job, someone needs to be the motherly one around here and remind people to be realistic. Anyway, go ahead and get to your cooking duties, I'll have this fixed by the time we go eat."


	37. Don't Show Us That One

A/N: Yes, Ken's ability is essentially that of the Blue Mage of Final Fantasy. And the last last ability referred to here is taken from the moveset. So Disclaimer, I don't own anything Final Fantasy related!

* * *

Background: Ken can learn and copy abilities of others depending on the ability. And every single resident of Zenkyoshi keeps a Digigear on them.

* * *

No one could understand why Ken was refusing straight out to show them some of his new abilities he had just learned.

"They're just... weird," he would say awkwardly, and then change the subject.

Finally, Yolei and Davis just took it upon themselves to figure out why Ken was being so secretive and literally dragged him to one of the training areas to confront him.

"Come on Ken, just because something's 'weird' doesn't mean you can't show it to us who've been living with you for how long?" Yolei argued, letting the boy drop to the grass.

Ken rubbed his arms, inwardly regretting his decision to teach Yolei martial arts and be her regular sparring partner, as she had known all of his regular combat moves and tricks and how to get past them. "I'm serious, they're just weird and I don't know if I should use them in the first place," he tried to reason with her.

He mostly succeeded in giving her a helpless look, which resulted in her exasperated groan.

Davis frowned. "Well, why don't you just show us and we can judge that? We're the only ones here, and the closest person to us is..." he checked his Digigear. "Gabumon, and he's still way over at the lake."

Ken looked at Yolei and Davis. "I really don't know if they're appropriate," he said with sigh.

"We don't care, just do it!"

With a frustrated groan, he turned, targeted a nearby rock, and opened his mouth.

Roughly five seconds later, the rock was black and scorched.

Both Yolei and Davis were staring with open mouths. "Ken, were you just breathing _fire_?" Yolei asked incredulously but with a smile.

He nodded grimly. "I told you it was weird."

Davis on the other hand, had a sort of goofy grin on his face. "Dude, how did you learn that?!" he asked with excitement rising in his whole demeanor.

"The same way I learn the rest of my abilities," Ken rolled his eyes. "By having them done to me."

"So sometime during one of our battles something flamed you in the face?"

"Essentially, yes."

"What are you so worried about, that ability is cool! You should use it against Tai just to see his reaction!"

"Ken," Yolei interrupted. "What was the other ability you didn't want to show us?"

He looked at her and vigorously shook his head. "No, I am not doing that one. I remember how I learned that and what happened to the monster right afterwards."

"Then why don't you tell us what it is?" she asked, a little bit of an edge in her voice.

Ken looked at her straight in the eye. "I would describe it as self destructing."

There was an awkward, pregnant pause.

"Okay, yeah, don't show us that one," she responded, a disturbed look on her face.


	38. Something's wrong with this picture

A/N: If you were stuck somewhere, completely bored out of your mind, and happened to have access to math books, wouldn't you try reading them? And linear algebra is college level math, for those who don't know.

And Izzy, biggest understatement of the year.

* * *

The first thing Izzy realized as he wandered into the kitchen to grab something to snack on was that Davis was sitting at the table, looking as though he was poring over a book. A large book. A large, thick book open to a page filled with diagrams, symbols, and equations.

Noting that Davis had headphones on, apparently listening to something on his mp3 player, Izzy snuck around to see what else was in front of the boy. Calculator, notebook paper covered in scribbling and notes, a couple pencils...

As he looked at the entire picture, what he realized was that not only did Davis' work on the paper make sense, but he even looked as though he were interested in it.

"Davis doing linear algebra and enjoying it," Izzy shook his head, staring. "What is this world coming to?"

Davis heard him and glanced over, looking a little annoyed. "I'm bored! It's been a ridiculously peaceful year and I can't just sit back and train or play soccer all day."

Izzy had to agree with that statement. "It's just... somewhat out of the ordinary to see you doing math for fun."


	39. Target Practice

A/N: I've had this drabble in my head for a while. And there are events that have occurred to everyone which has changed them enough such that they actually partake in activities like the one described where normally they might not. Character development ftw.  


* * *

Background: Joe fights with a spear, Izzy with guns, and Mimi with ninja type gear.

* * *

Joe felt that something was just wrong with everything.

Regardless, he still raised the gun and fired, attempting to take as little time as possible but still with accuracy.

He frowned as he saw the mark a few rings from the center of the target. "This feels wrong," he proclaimed, turning to look grimly towards the others with him. "It just doesn't feel right to add guns into our arsenal. It's like I'm going to actively kill anything I'm aiming for."

Izzy, who was next to him reloading his own gun, twitched a little. "Then aim for their foot or something," he replied. "Besides, it's not like driving a spear into your enemy's head is any better."

Joe winced a little, recalling that Izzy had recently decided to become the group's gunman, which meant that his last comment would have been a little on the offensive side. "Okay, you have a point there," he stated, shaking his head.

He watched as Izzy finished reloading, readied his weapon, and fired with one clean motion. The mark in the dead center of the target showed just how accomplished the younger boy had become with his accuracy.

"Wow Izzy, you've become really good at that..."

The two turned towards Mimi, who had been simply watching them practice, apparently still uncomfortable with the thought of using guns. Izzy smiled slightly. "Thanks. I need to if I'm going to be an asset in battle."

Mimi nodded. "Mmm-hmm. Something we all need to be able to be..." her voice drifted off as she suddenly stared into space, her right hand shifting towards the pouch strapped around her right thigh.

Joe and Izzy glanced at each other.

"Mimi, how's your target practice coming?" Joe asked suddenly, attempting to move the conversation as he was able to tell that the girl before him had her mind on fairly somber things.

She sat up a little as though returning from a daze. "Oh, it's going great."

"Cool. Hey, challenge, hit Izzy's target mark."

A rather un-Mimi like expression came across her face, looking slightly devilish and determined. Joe made a mental note that Mimi with the influence of certain Americans was not something he had foreseen. She stood and strode up to where Izzy had been a moment later. With one swift, graceful movement, her hand rose up from where it had been by the pouch, only to drop with force as an object flew across the area to hit the target.

She squinted and turned back, hands on her hips with a proud expression on her face.

There was a shuriken planted cleanly with one point lodged in the bullet hole of Izzy's target.

Izzy clapped appreciatively. "Wow."

Joe made another mental note to never make Mimi angry.


	40. More Singing Lessons

A/N: Little sequel to "Singing Lessons".

* * *

Mimi stood with her arms crossed, looking beadily into the eyes of all four boys assembled before her.

One of them raised his hand. "Do we have to do this?" Ken asked quietly.

"Yes," Mimi answered, a determined tone in her voice. "We'll all be better off."

Cody looked at the others around him. "Why us though? I understand why Matt got off, but how come you grabbed us?"

"Because as I said," she stated again, "We'll all be better off. I succeeded with Tai, I can succeed with you four."

Joe frowned. "If you say so..."

She glared at him. "I'm going to be frank about this – the four of you are awful at singing. Maybe I wouldn't mind quite so much if only certain people didn't sing in the shower every morning," she pointedly looked at Davis, who shuffled guiltily. "Or if others actually sang in tune, or even with just the ability to open their tone a little. I managed to get Tai to sing well; I actually like listening to him now! So I know it's possible, you just have to work with me!"


	41. Worst Training Idea Ever

Disclaimer: I do not own this particular incarnation of Claimh Solas - Nexon does.

A/N: Again, I suggest looking up "Mabinogi G9 Final" to see what this thing looks like. This could be considered a sequel to "Simulation"; everyone in this is in the simulation, so no actual threat of death. There also some very minor spoilers for Chapter 15 of "Survival of Hope".

* * *

Background: Izzy's simulation machinery is perfected and being used normally. Everyone is very used to combat. Everyone uses whatever weapons they are described as using.

* * *

Everyone except for one person screamed when they saw the monster.

"The hell is that thing?!" Matt shouted out in panic, moving backwards and gripping his metal bo staff as though it were his lifeline.

"Claimh Solas, the alchemic transmuted weapon of the god Nuadha?" Izzy answered helpfully.

"You're not helping!" Matt snapped back. "You could have maybe warned us about this!"

He never had the chance to say anything else as the demonic being turned itself towards him and let out a screech, its glowing eyes contrasting against the rust colored skull-like head. It charged directly at Matt, who coincidentally screamed and teleported to the other side of the arena.

Tai on the other hand rushed forward, taking the opportunity to stab the entire length of his sword into the monster. The monster made no gesture that it had noticed, and turned, swiping at him with a claw and throwing him off to the side.

He coughed a little as Kari came rushing to his side, her hands already glowing in preparation for healing. "Now I'm just sorry that Davis had to be the test subject with this thing," he glowered, glaring a little at Izzy who was busy shooting at the monster from further away.

Kari sighed, letting her light wash over Tai. "Me too..." she gasped as she saw Sora engulfed by a cloud of darkness that the monster had breathed out. "Sora!" she shouted, running forward to aid her as Tai stood, preparing a few balls of flame.

Mimi and TK beat her there, both trying to slash away at the monster as a distraction while pulling Sora away. Again, the monster did not seem to notice; the darkness spread, and suddenly all three of them were thrown backwards as it attacked.

Matt had recovered, and was throwing balls of pure energy towards it. "Izzy, what difficulty setting did you put this thing on?" he asked plaintively.

"Uh... the hardest?"

"... Izzy, we're gonna die."

They watched helplessly as the monster charged at Joe, who unfortunately did not have the ability to teleport, and had no choice but to run. The monster was too fast, and Joe was soon flying across the room.

"This is the worst training idea eveeerrrr!!"


	42. Joe's Hair

A/N: Inspired by the fact that I chose to have Mimi braid her hair. Plus I feel like this is something she might do for amusement.

* * *

Background: Joe's hair, which was already slightly long during 02, has not been cut since.

* * *

"Jooooooe..."

The boy in question looked up from the anatomy textbook he had been reading. He stared at Mimi, who was standing next to him, leaning forward with a hopeful smile. "Um, can I help you with something Mimi?"

She giggled. "Are you busy right now?"

Joe glanced down at his textbook. "Not particularly I guess."

Mimi clapped her hands together in delight. "Great!" she exclaimed. "So..."

She took a deep breath, as though preparing to ask something. Joe waited in anticipation, slightly confused and curious.

"Yes?" he asked.

Mimi looked Joe in the eye.

"Can I braid your hair?"

Joe yelped, instinctively grabbing the blue strands behind his head. "Wh-what?! Braid my hair? Why?"

"Because it's long and pretty, obviously!"

Pretty was not something that Joe thought described his hair at all. Unfortunately, as he ran his fingers through it, he realized that Mimi was right – after all he hadn't cut it since coming to Zenkyoshi, and it was already slightly long before he came...

Mimi batted her eyelashes at Joe. "Pleeease?"

"No!"

She pouted. "Come on, why not?"

"Because it's just not..." he shook his head madly. "No!"

"But you'd look dashing in it."

"I don't want to look dashing!"

"Do it for me?"

Joe sweatdropped a little. This was going to be difficult.


	43. Conspiring on Joe's Hair

A/N: Sequel to the last drabble. Oh, poor Joe.

* * *

Despite Mimi's best efforts, Joe had been steadfast in his decision and refused to let her braid his hair. He had however, asked her for some hair ties and tips on taking care of it, which meant that he likely had no plans to cut it any time soon.

So now she was contemplating methods that would somehow convince Joe that letting her braid his hair would not be a bad idea.

She was sitting on her bed, deep in thought, when Kari knocked on the open door.

"I saw that Joe tied his hair back," she said, joining Mimi on the bed. "You asked if you could braid his hair?"

Mimi nodded. "Yeah... Joe is just no fun with these sorts of things."

"Hmm..." Kari's hand touched her chin in thought. "What to do..."

As they sat there, both thinking, Yolei and Sora suddenly poked their heads into the room, blinking in surprise. "There a party going on in here?" Sora asked, wiping away some sweat from her forehead; she looked as though she had been training as she had her sword strapped to her back. Yolei on the other hand was still in her pajamas.

Kari laughed slightly. "Kind of. We're doing some conspiracy work on Joe."

"On Joe?" Yolei asked, looking intrigued. "Do tell."

Mimi patted the bed. "Here, make yourself comfortable."

Soon, the four girls were sitting cross-legged on Mimi's bed, facing each other and ready for some plotting.

"So," Mimi began. "If you haven't noticed, Joe hasn't cut his hair since we came here. And I was thinking, it's long enough... to do some short braids."

Yolei laughed, clapping her hands. "You're totally right! Oh that would be so much fun!"

Sora, though she looked amused by the prospect, only gave a half smile. "But it's Joe," she replied. "He can be pretty stubborn when he wants to be."

"Braiding Joe's hair?"

The four turned to look at the newcomer, who had come through the open door looking curious. With a grin, she closed the door. "Count me in."

Mimi laughed in delight. "Great! Come join us Nicole!"

She too hopped onto Mimi's bed, and now all five girls sat there with mischievous smiles.

"There's five of us versus one boy. I think those are pretty good odds," Yolei mused.

Together, they whispered closely, planning.


	44. The Plan's Aftermath

A/N: And another sequel! The aftermath...

* * *

Ken moved his pawn to the square. "Queen me."

Cody furrowed his brows. Granted, he usually lost to Ken in chess, but he felt as though was playing particularly badly today.

However, the sight of Joe walking by with his hair a mess of braids paused their game indefinitely.

"Joe?!" Cody stared in shock.

As Ken turned to look (and also stare at the sight), Joe just blushed a little. "It was the girls," he sighed. "All five of them."

Ken and Cody glanced briefly at each other.

"Well, they did a good job... it looks more like you have dreadlocks or something..." Ken commented warily, trying not to induce too much more grief for the older boy.

Joe just shook his head tiredly and continued on his way.


	45. Giant Mushroom

A/N: I honestly can't say much about this except that it was a crack inspiration drawn by a few images I found highly amusing. And I figured, "Hey, why not?"

I'll get back to working on "Survival", I promise. But I did write up about three scenes that would take place in its sequel... heh heh heh...

* * *

When Ken left the house early that morning in his winter running gear, planning to meet up with Nicole so they could both jog together, he saw a sight outside that left him perplexed.

Nicole was already standing by the structure, looking extremely confused as she shivered in the chilled air, the hood of her sweatshirt pulled up over her head. She was tilting her body from side to side, as though trying to look at the structure from different angles and see exactly what it was.

Ken joined her. "What... is this?" he asked tentatively, staring.

"... it appears to be a giant mushroom."

They both looked up at the humongous cap that cast a large shadow over them.

"... a giant pink mushroom."

She turned to look at Ken. "Now the only question is..."

Ken finished for her.

"Why is there a giant pink mushroom in the yard?"

They both stared at it for a little longer.

"Well, this is the Digital World..." Ken mused. "A lot of logic gets tossed out the window."


	46. Ace Waterfall

A/N: So, basically it's the entire cast playing Kings. For those unaware, this is a drinking game involving a deck of cards and everyone having a drink of some sort in front of them. There are different rules for different cards drawn. I know the rules vary from place to place, but I'm pretty sure the rule for the ace card is the same everywhere. :P

For legality issues, let's just say that everyone is drinking orange juice. (shifty eyes)

And this just inspired an entire interesting fic idea.

* * *

Matt drew the card and placed it face up so everyone could see.

It was an ace.

"Waterfall."

Silently, everyone gazed at the huge circle that contained every single Zenkyoshi resident.

Forty-eight.

Tai, on Matt's right side, grimaced slightly. "I'm gonna die."

"You can do it!" Biyomon shouted from somewhere across the circle.

Matt grinned wryly as he held up his cup. "Bottoms up, mate."

As one, everyone lifted their cup to their lips and drank.

And drank.

And drank some more.

Yolei, on Matt's other side, made an annoyed squawk at him through her cup.

Finally, Matt stopped drinking, prompting Yolei to also put her cup down. The wave continued around the entire circle, as a few coughs and pants became more common as it went. By the time it ended with Tai, the poor boy was heaving and gasped for breath, looking slightly red as he placed his cup back down on the floor in front of him.

"Damn it Matt, you didn't have to go for so long!" Tai panted, coughing a couple times.

Matt patted his friend on the back. "Hey, you did it didn't you?"


	47. Brotherly Prank

A/N: I know this is several days late, but I figure why not?

* * *

It would have been like every other morning except for a one small event.

Matt stormed into the kitchen, looking unamused and drawing stares from everyone he passed. His eyes scanned the room, resting on one person in particular. "TK, there you are! Why did you – wait, what?!"

TK, who was casually eating a bowl of cereal and also drawing a fair number of stares looked up innocently. "Yes Big Brother?"

Matt frowned. TK never called him that any more, which only further solidified his guilt. But... as he looked, he was just more confused.

With sigh, he pointed to his own hair. "And don't even try to protest, I know you're the one who put the dye in my shampoo."

TK looked at him, and grinned. "April Fools."

Matt blinked, and glanced at the nearby calendar. Indeed, it was April 1st, that day that was apparently a holiday for pranking in America. He frowned.

"Oh ha ha. Thanks for giving me neon green hair. And why the hell did you dye your hair too?"

TK smiled, reaching up to inspect a few stray strands of his own now green hair. "I figured you could use the company," he answered cheerfully.


	48. I felt like it

A/N: Is it strange that I know from experience that tomatoes are actually pretty difficult to smash?

* * *

SPLAT.

Tai stared forward with half lidded eyes in complete disbelief. He blinked a couple times.

Nicole smiled cheerily at him.

Tai gingerly touched the top of his head, glaring at the girl standing not one foot away from him.

"Was there a reason why you smashed a tomato over my head?"

"Not particularly. I felt like it."

"Okay then."

Tai reached behind him without turning and found what he was looking for. Without another hesitation he swung his arm and flung a fistful of mushy peach at her face.

Nicole wiped a bit of peach from her cheek. "I expected that."


	49. Marriage Proposal?

A/N: I thought this would just be hilarious. I feel so sorry for poor Kari and all confused witnesses. Some Takari hints.

* * *

Background: Fireyes is a female Charizard. Tai is close to Greymon because he had to digivolve Agumon. The group was playing a very high-staked game of Truth or Dare.

* * *

Kari gulped, glancing backwards at the group of giggling and smirking humans and digimon behind her. She then looked forward at her target and inwardly felt like dying rather than do this task she had been set to complete.

Nevertheless, she strode forward to where Greymon was busy sparring with Fireyes.

"Excuse me, Greymon?"

The digimon in question stopped for a moment as Fireyes landed. "Yes, do you need something Kari?"

Kari took a deep breath, ignoring her watching brother on the sidelines, and striding forward to Greymon. She looked the digimon in the eye.

"Greymon," she began in her most passionate, sincere voice. "We've known each other for quite a long time... and I'm so thankful for all you've done for me and my brother. I've admired you for so long... with your amazing Nova Blast as Greymon, your beautiful armor and grace as Wargreymon, how you're always there for Tai when he needs you..."

Someone coughed in the background and Gatomon's giggle was plaintively obvious. Greymon just looked slightly confused. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of gold hair and a white hat.

_Oh no, TK's here too?! _

Nonetheless, she took a deep breath and continued. "So Greymon, I just wanted you to know that... I can't imagine the rest of my life without you... you are the great digimon of my life, and... I want to confess that I am deeply in love with you."

Greymon's eyes widened in shock. As did Tai's, who was now staring as though something had fried Kari's brain. Someone in the group behind her burst out laughing, while she could tell everyone else was trying extremely hard to not do the same; she felt her face burn as she thought she heard TK's indignant cry of horror.

She nodded silently. "Yes Greymon, I know this is sudden and so improbable, given that you are a digimon and I am a human. But I believe we can make this work, as lifelong companions. So..."

She knelt down to the ground on one knee, retrieving a napkin ring from her pocket and offering it to Greymon. "Would you do me the honor of being my husband?"

The entire group roared in laughter, unable to keep it in any longer. Greymon was completely dumbstruck, staring as though he had never seen Kari before in his life, while Tai had a mixed look of confusion and horror on his face. Fireyes on the other hand seemed to understand what the entire thing was about, and was coughing out little fireballs as she snorted in amusement.

Feeling fully humiliated now, Kari jumped up to her feet and ran back to the group, who had apparently filled TK in (to the resultant cries of, "You horrible horrible people!") and decided she was going to be completely unable to look either Greymon or Tai in the face for the next month.


	50. The Courage to Move On

A/N: I guess this is closer to a scene/potential one-shot, but I felt a need to write it. I also figured that it'd be a nice fiftieth addition to this collection. Wow, already fifty...

I've also decided... that since this is again related to the Crystal Wars idea... that I am eventually going to write this. First, I need to finish Survival of Hope (which I've been awful about!), and then there's another story that needs to be a preface to how things came about... gah, so much writing I would have to do. But it's fun. Oh, and a Survival of Hope sequel is most definitely in the works. Woohoo!

And Tai stars once again. I'll move onto some other characters after this, I promise.

* * *

Background: Takes place after the Crystal Wars (and so would contain major major spoilers for it). And yes, everyone survived. Yolei and Izzy are the only ones with crest abilities that are not directly useful in battle.

* * *

"Tai, can I talk to you?"

Tai stopped in mid-kick, his foot not even making it to the soccer ball. He sighed and stood fully, turning to look at the boy who had likely been standing there for quite some time. "Izzy, what's up?"

The resident computer whiz gazed down at the grass. "I just... wanted to ask you about this."

He held up his palm to reveal a crystal, barely the size of a marble and looking innocently harmless as its many faceted sides flashed in the sunlight.

Tai stared at it, trying to push down all the emotions associated with the object. "What about it?" he asked casually, masking those feelings with a slightly curious face.

Izzy glared at him, his eyes betraying great solemnity and concern. "You know why I'm asking you. Are you okay with this?"

Tai was glad to let his mask drop. He gazed sadly at the crystal, images flashing through his mind that still haunted his dreams. It was better now though, after all the peace and the time to recover; yet that association was still there. He doubted it would ever vanish.

He smiled gently. "Of course I'm okay with this. If I hadn't had been, I wouldn't have come up with the idea to make these for you and Yolei, right?"

"And the rest of us over time, I know," Izzy let his shoulders drop, looking away from Tai's eyes again. "I just... I don't know how you could have dealt with it. Going back to Cirgamon's castle... or what's left of it anyway... actually gathering these _things_, and then actually imbuing your power into it... after everything that happened to you?!"

He was staring at Tai, his face upset and twisted with guilt. "I know that you convinced everyone else to help with making these too, and it's so amazing that you did, because now Yolei and I can use elemental attacks and not have to rely purely on what physical abilities we have, but at what cost? You learned how to make these because of what happened, right? I know, I saw it, you let us all look into your memories to see, I honestly couldn't sleep for days afterwards, and how... why...?"

Tai placed a firm hand on Izzy's shoulder, seeing that the younger boy looked ready to break down into an emotional wreck. He knew too well; he himself would be unlikely to use the crystals for several years, for every time he touched one all he could think about was the pain and blood poured into these things. Yet he also knew and understood practicality, and that he had to move on.

"It's because we can't always let the past affect us, otherwise it'll just eat us away" he spoke softly, but with strength. "For me, I had to accept that what happened, happened, and I could either live the rest of my life in fear of everything around me and be unable to function, or I could continue on and come back to the world, facing it despite what I felt. Courage," he added, with a wry grin.

He gave Izzy a playful punch in the arm. "You've got some right there in that crystal now, you know. Why don't you go try burning things? It's actually pretty fun."

Izzy stared for a moment, and suddenly began laughing as tears of mirth came to his eyes. "Only you Tai, only you," he gasped as Tai watched with an amused smile.

Then his expression turned serious again. "Thank you Tai," he said sincerely. "I really mean it."

Tai felt at peace.

"You're welcome."


	51. THIS IS SPARTA!

A/N: Uh... I really can't say much about this except that it must take place sometime during or after the year 2007. And really, you would expect some beings to have a somewhat more goofy side, even if it means doing a full frontal charge while doing it.

* * *

It was a rushing charge onto the battlefield; all the digimon at their Ultimate levels, galloping down the hill like a cavalry, roaring as they went. Their respective partners were with them, sprinting as their adrenaline rushed bodies came forward, weapons in front, their spirits high and ready for the conflict. Somewhere above and around came the respective cries of the pokémon, shouting out to the enemy that they would be the ones victorious from this fight.

Then as one, every single non-human on the field gave out one roar that echoed across the entire field.

"THIS…IS…SPAARTAAA!!!"

They were met with blank stares from all the humans, save for two American girls who burst out laughing.

"... What?" Cody blinked, gazing at Shakkoumon.

"We didn't tell you?"

"Uh... no."

"Oh. We'll let you know next time then."


	52. Shark attack! Doot doo

A/N: Good times at camp. This is how I learned it at least; there's more, but I decided not to bore you with it. Oh, the fun days of childhood~

* * *

"So it's like this," Pikachu began, holding up one paw and making a little 'c' shape with it. Cody and TK watched curiously as the little pokémon took a deep breath.

"Baby... shark! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Baby shark! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Baby shark! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Baby shark!"

Cody and TK looked at each other. Patamon on the other hand jumped right in as Pikachu began using both paws.

"Mama… shark! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Mama shark! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Mama shark! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Mama shark!"

The four Scyzards squealed as they passed by, hearing the song; they all immediately ran forward to join in, as they used the entirety of their arms.

"Daddy... shark! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Daddy shark! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Daddy shark! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Daddy shark!"

Nicole, who had been behind the Scyzards, also whooped in joy as she recognized the old camp song and came in with the group, but closing her hands into fists as they continued, and using only the rest of her hands.

"Grandma... shark! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Grandma shark! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Grandma shark! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Grandma shark!"

By this point, TK and Cody were laughing with everyone, and watching carefully, began making the same movements and singing along. This time, they kept their hands in fists but used their entire arms.

"Grandpa... shark! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Grandpa shark! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Grandpa shark! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Grandpa shark!"

It was as Raichu, Hawkmon, Veemon, Agumon, and Gengar came to investigate that they saw the whole crowd singing this shark song that for a moment, they stared in shock. Then with some prodding from Raichu and Gengar, the whole group of them joined in, emulating a person surfing.

"Surfer... dude! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Surfer dude! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Surfer dude! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Surfer dude!"

Davis and Scyther walked into the room, the ruckus apparently reaching far beyond the expanses of the walls. As Scyther began laughing, Davis stared confusedly as suddenly the entire mob playfully came at them with their 'shark' arms.

"Shark... attack! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Shark attack! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Shark attack! Doot-doo, doot-doot doo doo Shark attack!"

Scyther's voice floated above the others briefly. "Let's keep this going until we get everyone part of it!"

Most of the group cheered for her announcement, while others laughed; TK grinned and prodded Davis, who was still confused. "Just join in, we were all bound to do something insane at some point."

Davis blinked and nodded with a smile. "Okay then, guess I will."


	53. Banned Song

A/N: And again, camp songs! And if you know this particular one... everyone will HATE you if you use it as a wakeup call.

* * *

Davis and Veemon both tried to hold back laughter as they snuck into Yolei's room, where she was currently napping in bed. Since she had told them to wake her up at this time, they had figured it would be all right if they used this particular method...

With glances at each other, the two nodded, leaned down so that their mouths were by her head, and began to sing at the top of their lungs.

"Waaaaaaaaay up in the sky, the little birds fly! Way down in the nest, the little birds rest - "

"AAUGH!!"

Yolei shot up, narrowly missing hitting her forehead on Davis' goggles as he jumped back. She glared daggers at the boy and his partner, who continued singing despite the interruption.

"You two," she snapped. "I thought we banned that song as wakeup years ago."

Davis shrugged. "Eh, it did the job right?"

Yolei's glare turned dangerous with a glint in her eye. "You have five seconds to get out of here."

The two wasted no time escaping.


	54. That's Impossible

A/N: I got inspired by martial arts. Plus this makes a good follow up to an earlier drabble (First Break).

* * *

He refused to believe this. He couldn't. There was no possible way. That brick was not supposed to break like that. It had to be an illusion somehow. The kick was not supposed to _do _that.

Yolei just continued smirking at him as the once whole brick now lay in pieces on the floor.

"You can't say my technique sucks any more, now can you Davis?" she challenged with a slight competitive edge.

He just stared at her speechlessly.


	55. The Other Tree Killer

A/N: Again with the martial arts references. Remember, everyone's learning combat, so... yeah.

I've actually had this idea since "Tree Killer", so it's finally out.

* * *

Background: Mimi has an affinity with plants (which is what her crest power surrounds). Said greaves belong to a digimon friend.

* * *

The sound of a great snapping and a crash echoed across the grounds, as momentarily the ground shook. While most noticed and turned momentarily towards the training area, those who were actually there had more of a shock.

Kari stared at the results of her work, unable to form a complete sentence. "Uh... um... eh..."

Then she looked down at her legs, and the protective greaves shining tauntingly at her.

Joe quickly took her by the shoulders and dragged her away from the site. "You might want to take those off and pretend like nothing happened," he advised, shying away from the stares of many others. "And whatever happens, don't let Palmon know..."

She glanced at him with worried eyes. "Do you think we should ask Mimi to help fix it?"

"...yeah. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea, I'll ask her now."

As Joe moved to contact Mimi, Kari quietly took off the greaves, firmly deciding that she would be returning them immediately. And in the meantime, she would hope that Mimi was able to repair or heal the now broken and fallen tree...


	56. We Resuscitated a Tree

A/N: Final part to this... involving many characters working together. Insert as many unnamed others as you would like as spectators.

* * *

Background: Mimi has power over plants. Kari has the ability to heal. Matt and Nicole both have psychic abilities (but for different reasons). Joe obviously remembers the last time he injured a tree.

* * *

"One... two... three... now!"

Focusing, Matt and Nicole psychically picked up the fallen tree and tipping it back, placed it where it had been on the stump before it had broken.

Mimi knelt beside the tree, feeling the edge. "Rotate it to the left... a little more… there, stop."

At that, Nicole dropped out, leaving just Matt holding the tree in place.

As Kari came to the tree and placed her hands on it, Mimi gently touched the bark. "Okay Kari, ready?"

Kari nodded. "Yeah."

Together, they concentrated, and light filled the area.

It surprisingly only took a few moments. Green and pink circled the tree, mixed with the blue already surrounding it; they combined such that the tree itself became only visible as a shining beacon, with flickers of different colors glowing around it.

Then the light vanished, leaving only the faint blue of Matt's energy holding the tree in place.

Both Mimi and Kari sighed, stepping back. "Okay Matt, let it go," Mimi called.

Tentatively, Matt withdrew. The blue surrounding the tree gradually vanished as he let go, and everyone watched in anticipation to see what happened.

The tree stayed up.

Those involved in the healing of the tree all let out a bated breath of relief, while everyone else who had watched them began cheering.

Mimi pumped a fist into the air. "All right!" she shouted in exclamation. "We'll have to check back every day for a while to make sure the tree's fine, but other than that, yes, we did it!"

Joe nodded. "Yes, you did. Now..."

He turned to the group in the area. "Remember, not a word of this gets out to Palmon, because we know how she would react."

"How would I react?"

Everyone froze.

Palmon gazed at everyone very confusedly.

Kari whimpered and ducked behind Tai in hopes that Palmon wouldn't see her.

Ken just offered helpfully, "We resuscitated a tree."


	57. Music File Sharing

A/N: This is actually based off of my first reaction upon hearing this song. My friends didn't tell me what it was, so when I heard it... XD

* * *

Tai peeked his head over Mimi's shoulder. "Whatcha doin'?"

She spared him a glance. "Michael sent me this song," she answered, clicking on the file. "He says it's classic and hilarious."

He frowned. "English, right?"

"Well of course... Michael is American, after all."

Tai leaned back, placing his hands behind his head. "Well, it's rare that we get new music around here, so sounds cool. What's it called?"

Mimi looked a little unsure whether she should answer. However, by this point the song had finished loading, and began playing from the computer.

They leaned in to listen.

"_The internet is really really great… FOR PORN!_"

"WHAAA?!"

Tai's mouth dropped, while Mimi actually fell out of her chair. "Pause it, pause it!" he shouted, taking over the mouse and doing so when Mimi sat on the floor instead.

They both looked at each other.

"What's the song's name?" he asked tentatively.

Mimi winced. "The Internet is for Porn."

There was a pregnant pause.

Tai looked up, pensive. "You know, it's actually kind of true. We should send this to Izzy."


	58. Stupid Pyro

A/N: Oh pyros. Don't set fire to Yolei's room.

* * *

"I'm sorry I swear I won't do it again I can't help it I'm a fire type I like to burn things I'll stay out of your room next time let me go aaaaah save me from this demoness I'll be good now oh no help me NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo..."

Izzy and Davis just stared in disbelief as Yolei dragged Charizard by the headknobs down the hall, the former fuming and mumbling about 'stupid pyros' and the latter shouting in protest.

"And we all know he's capable of overpowering her, which just makes this look strange," Izzy shook his head despairingly.


	59. Someone listens to too much Avenue Q

Disclaimer: I don't own Avenue Q or any lyrics.

A/N: Uh, so I think we can kind of guess where this came from. Anyway, there's only maybe one other human character I can imagine actually doing this and being mature about it, and I've written him a lot lately, so I chose the other candidate... although in my mind, the entire thing is because of him. And I tried to write our poor victim as he might react given his maturity too. He's more reacting to antics than anything else. And the conversation at the beginning is only an excuse to get to the right point for the scenario.

* * *

Background: Nicole is psychic. Filming is usually done by small and sneaky non-humans.

* * *

Joe was innocently sitting on the couch reading a book on Digiworld legends when Nicole strode up looking a little tired. "Hey Joe," she waved, settling herself down on the couch next to him.

He nodded in reply. "Hey Nicole," he answered, noting how she stared at the ceiling. "What's up? You seem a little out of the ordinary."

She shrugged. "Maybe a little. I was just thinking... Joe, how feminine do you think I am? And be honest," she added at the end, before he could protest about offending her.

Joe gulped slightly, but she looked earnest so he told her the truth. "Not very."

Nicole let out a sigh. "Yeah, I never really considered myself very feminine... but the last time I went home to visit I ran into this woman who... was abnormally friendly. Actually, I think she was hitting on me… she probably thought I was gay."

Joe had to stare for a moment. "But you're not."

"No, but she evidently thought I was. And I was just thinking... what would happen around here if some of us had different sexual orientations?"

Joe blinked. "Um, that's a strange subject to be thinking about. And why are we on this subject again?"

He could have sworn there was a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she asked, "Are you being defensive?"

"No, I am not being defensive…" he answered back slowly, a little surprised at where this was going.

Nicole looked unconvinced. "Well okay, but..."

And to his utmost shock, she suddenly started singing.

"If you were gay... that'd be okay! I mean 'cause hey, I'd like you anyway."

He stared at her, slack-jawed with his book now lying forgotten in his lap as she stood up and danced to the song.

"Because you see, if it were me," she continued, singing with clear operatic vibrato to the world, "I would feel free to say that I was gay! But I'm not gay."

She finished with a little finger waving motion at him, and Joe groaned.

"Nicole, if this is one of your random insane moments, could you go sing at someone else?"

She just continued smiling at him naturally while twiddling her thumbs. Joe let out another groan of exasperation and began reading his book again.

_Maybe if I bore her out she'll leave…_

After a few moments, she was still looking at him eagerly. Joe glared. "What?!" he shouted.

"If you were queer - "

"Ugh!" he tried to hide behind his book.

"I'd still be here."

_Oh go away go away…_

"Year after year, because you're dear to me."

Joe lifted his eyebrows. "Uh, thanks?"

"And I know that you would accept me too..."

He nodded dumbly, trying to figure out what exactly was going on inside that head of hers.

"If I told you today 'Hey guess what, I'm gay!'" she waved her arms dramatically in the air. "But I'm not gay," she finished with a shrug.

Joe tried vainly to continue hiding behind his book, but Nicole just swung her arm around his shoulder, taking a seat on the arm of the couch.

"I'm happy to be with you," she continued singing.

"Me too," he muttered, attempting to not sound too sarcastic.

She was grinning widely as she sang the next part. "So what does it matter to me what you do in bed with guys?"

"EEEEEEEHHH?!?!"

Joe was completely mortified. At this point, Nicole had started doing some sort of line dance while kicking her feet up into the air, still singing for all the world to hear. "If you were gaaaaay, I'd shout hooraaaaay!!"

_This is officially the most embarrassing moment of my life. I really hope no one walks in..._

He tried to cover his ears. "Okay that's it, I'm not listening any more."

"And here I'd staaaaaay - "

"Lalalalala!" he shouted, trying to bury his head in his knees at the same time.

Nicole just poked her head down next to his. "But I wouldn't get in your way!"

He shrieked. "Aaaaaah!!"

"You can count on meeeee, to always beeeeee, beside you every day - "

Nicole was literally hugging him now.

"To tell you it's okay, you were just born that way - "

_Help me, someone save me from her!!!_

"And as they say, it's in your DNA! You're GAAAAAAAAY!!"

Joe stood up and threw Nicole off, screaming, "I AM NOT GAY!!"

She perched herself up off the floor onto her elbows and waggled her finger helpfully. "But if you _were_ gay - "

"AAAAGH!!"

A full three seconds of silence as they looked at each other.

Then Joe suddenly heard Nicole's voice in his head.

**Just letting you know, we were playing Truth or Dare; this was my dare. Sorry to put you in such an awkward position. And um... this entire thing was just filmed.**

Joe stared at Nicole speechlessly. She shrugged apologetically, grimacing slightly as she pulled herself to her feet. Regardless, he could still tell she was fairly pleased with herself and had most certainly enjoyed the entire misadventure.

It took only a moment's thought to come to a conclusion about the entire thing.

_In hindsight… this was actually really funny._

Amused by the absurdity of it all, Joe burst out laughing.


	60. He wasn't paying attention

Background: Matt has psychic abilities.

* * *

A peaceful afternoon, spent under a tree outside overlooking the lake while writing lyrics. It was one of those perfect days, Matt thought, as he took a drink from his bottle of lemonade.

"Matt, heads!"

BONK.

Matt carefully held the bottle in his hand and turned slowly towards the three boys not far away. Ken in particular was looking sheepish, while both Davis and Tai seemed to be laughing. He just gave them all a flat, annoyed look.

Ken rubbed the back of his head, looking apologetic. "Sorry Matt..."

He waved it off. "It's fine," he called back, putting down the bottle and picking up the soccer ball that had just nailed him in the head. He gave it a gentle kick back towards the three, sighing as Davis ran to retrieve it.

Tai seemed to be smirking. "Man, our resident psychic guy can't even tell when he's about to get beaned with a soccer ball..."

Unamused, Matt focused and used his abilities to knock Tai over.


	61. Brothers before the Finals

A/N: A little scene that I wanted to reflect how TK has grown and how the brother's relationship has changed over the years, especially considering how it was during the first season. And it's all in good fun.

* * *

Background: The group likes to hold combat tournaments to keep everyone on their toes. And everyone uses substitute weapons during it so no one gets badly injured.

* * *

TK was almost excited. Almost.

He gazed up at the board showing the tournament bracket, his eyes focused on one name right next to his own at the center. He frowned as he thought about it, despite having sparred with that person on countless occasions. It just felt... strange.

Then said person walked up next to him, gazing at the board as well.

"You know, this is gonna' be interesting," Matt commented, glancing over.

TK gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah... who would have expected that both of us would make it to the finals?"

Matt raised his eyebrows, shrugging a little and seeming a bit tense. "Who would've guessed."

They stared at the board for a few more moments.

TK was the one who sobered up first. "Well, in any case, let's have a good bout. Winner gets bragging rights for the year!" he said cheerfully, placing his hands on his belt and feeling the weight of the two blades hanging there.

Matt just grinned. "Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're my little brother."

TK laughed back. "I wouldn't want you to. And I'm not that little any more, so you'd better be on guard!"

The two smiled at each other, and shook hands.

"Let's go for it."


	62. On or Under?

A/N: Because we all know that people can have really strange conversations sometimes. And they just seem stranger when out of context. The target referred to is actually a type of target that looks kind of like a paddle that you kick; it makes a clapping noise if you kick it correctly.

* * *

Background: Martial arts training for everyone, hooray.

* * *

Whap. Whap. Whap.

Kari breathed hard and aimed her kick at the target again. She was wondering if perhaps it was her technique or maybe even just her aim that was bringing out that slightly sad whapping sound; she let loose another kick, and satisfied to hear a hard clap, she returned to her ready stance as Cody brought the target back into position.

" – which is why you do it _on_ the table, not under it."

"But it's just not the same if you do it on the table."

_What in the world are they talking about?_

Kari continued her drill work as the boys on the floor not far away continued their conversation while stretching.

"Besides, it just ruins the point of it if you're not under," Tai argued as he gently rubbed an ankle.

Matt rolled his eyes. "I know what you mean, but really, it's so much easier doing it on the table."

"Okay, I agree with that normally, but it's like... it's like calling it snowboarding a halfpipe and actually sliding down the bunny slope."

"Tai, this has nothing to do with snowboarding."

Kari switched to her other leg and continued kicking, though she was no longer really paying attention to the quality of her kicks.

"Listen, next time you go out with someone, ask about on or under," Matt said pointedly as he stretched one leg against the wall. "Your date'll think it's a stupid question and say _on_. Unless they're insane."

"Or we could just ask Sora," Tai suggested, motioning to the girl across the room practicing what looked like knife hand strikes.

Matt raised an eyebrow. "And why are we bringing her into this?"

"She's a girl, I bet she'd have a different opinion. Hey Sora!"

Sora paused from her practice and turned towards the two boys. "Yes? Does this have anything to do with what you were obsessing about yesterday?"

Tai blanched slightly. "Yeah, it does."

She sighed. "Under, because it's pointless otherwise."

Tai gestured wildly. "See Matt? Sora's not insane, and she says under!"

Matt groaned. "Okay fine, you can do it under the table if you want, but if I find out that you've burnt a hole in the floor - "

"I am not going to burn a hole in the floor!"

Kari finally stopped kicking and stared at them. "What are you guys talking about?!" she asked in exasperation.

Tai and Matt looked at each other. "You explain," they both said at the same time, before groaning in unison.

Cody dropped the target on the ground. "I'm just as confused as Kari, what is this about?"

"Cooking on the ground," Tai finally sighed, rubbing his temples. "Specifically, cooking under a table. I don't see what the big deal is, especially since the table will trap the smoke and I'm sure if you use the right materials - "

"Tai, you do not light a portable gas stove under a table and try to cook salmon on it, dammit!" Matt shouted, throwing his arms into the air. "And the entire underside of the table will smell like fish!"

Tai blinked and grinned mischievously. "What, you planning to spend time there sniffing it?"

"Ugh!"

Kari shook her head. Sometimes the logic of those two completely escaped her.


	63. If Izzy Took Over the World

Disclaimer: I do not own any Machiavelli, nor Peter's Evil Overlord List, both of which were used as references.

A/N: Combine Machiavelli's "The Prince" and the Evil Overlord List, and what do you get? And yes, I actually did read Machiavelli for a class.

* * *

"So if you were to take over the world, how would you do it?"

Ken and Izzy glanced at each other. "Well, we all know how that worked out with me," Ken said quietly, sighing. It might have been years since his time as the Digimon Emperor, but it still bothered him quite a bit.

Joe winced. "No offense to you Ken. Although you were doing a pretty good job before we came along."

"Thanks... I think?"

Izzy lounged back on the couch, looking thoughtful. "Well," he began, "first of all, I would have to hire troops that were fully loyal to me and served because they both loved and feared me, likely more on the fear side. Need to have that general respect as well as be fully self-sufficient."

"Makes sense," Ken nodded, "Hopefully no coup as a result."

"Then," Izzy held up two fingers, crossing his legs as his eyes gazed unfocused at the ceiling, " I will need to convince the leaders of each realm to join an alliance with me. I would watch over their trade routes, and by gradually taking control of the economy, be able to monitor and access whatever I needed. I would, of course, allow the leaders to continue ruling their realms, so long as they reported to me. "

Joe blinked. "So a peaceful takeover?"

"Yes. My troops would be highly trained and efficient professionals in battle, and would also be used to quell clashes or defend villages or cities, which would not only raise morale and the standards the populace has of me, but would also aid in recruitment to the troops. I would occasionally join in these battles, as well as visit the local populace to both survey the land as well as ensure that my image is that of respect and reliability."

"Like my reputation?"

"A bit. However, being highly respected by the populace is important, as well as having the benefit of being a just ruler, balanced with the right amount of kindness and cruelty, and being armed with hand-picked, wise advisors. All opinions will be taken into account, and flattery will be disallowed, as I need to know what the strengths and weaknesses of my empire are so I can address them. I suppose that since I already have a reputation for having done great things as a Digidestined, many potential allies are already willing to help me, so I have the respect of many."

Ken frowned slightly. "And what about dissenters?"

Izzy smiled almost deviously. "Well, I would immediately send low-level troops at them first, instructed to attack at once, and with conventional weaponry that they are well trained in. They would also be trained to contact others of their group if one disappears, and depending on the dissenter, to take said being captive if reasonable, else they are free to kill him. If this troop fails, then I will send my best troops, so as to take down the dissenters before they can grow gradually stronger. The same would apply for any weapons I use, that are powerful but not indestructible such that they can be used indefinitely for mass destruction. Were I to have a creature of great power, I would treat said creature with care and kindness so that it would not rebel against me. Ah yes, I will also not gloat over these dissenters, or give them time in any way to escape, their end will be as quick and final as possible. And I would build multiple of anything of great importance to me and my plans."

Ken and Joe stared at him.

"You've really thought this through, haven't you?" Ken commented, looking slightly disturbed.

Izzy shrugged. "This is all theoretical of course, I have no desire to take over the world. This is just 'if'."

"...If."


	64. Sexy Cake

A/N: I wrote tons of fairly dramatic stuff for Survival and baked two cakes. This is the result.

* * *

The smell from the kitchen told most people exactly what had happened. Few ignored it.

Apparently the culprits were Agumon and Veemon, who looked slightly sheepish as they stared at the remains of their baking attempt. As others began to arrive, Veemon tried to hide behind Agumon, which failed mostly due to size and the fact that neither digimon blended in with the wall very well.

Mimi arrived first, a hand over her nose as she stared at the result. Then as others arrived, she sighed at the state of the kitchen, flour and sugar strewn all over the place and dirty bowls littering the sink. "Well, at least you had fun while trying?"

Both digimon smiled weakly. "Well, at least that's true," Agumon rubbed the back of his head, glancing at the pan. "I didn't think making a cake would end up like this though..."

As everyone stared at the mess, Mimi took charge and strode over to the smoking pan. Knowing the exterior of the cake was fully burnt on the outside, she quickly grabbed some mitts and picked up the pan, upturning it onto a large plate that was sitting on the counter.

The cake fell out as a blackened block, but then collapsed in the center as something gooey escaped onto the plate. Bits and pieces of the baked food became mixed in, as the cake slowly turned into a mix of burnt mush.

Everyone looked at each other.

"That is one sexy cake," Nicole commented.


	65. Sora Punch

A/N: Have you ever... just wanted to...

* * *

Background: Matt has psychic abilities, Sora has power of air, and she fights with a funky sword/blade whip thing.

* * *

"Surrender, Digidestined!"

The situation looked bad. They were surrounded by still more virus digimon, most of them Champion level but with a few Ultimates. Matt was down, caught between energy barriers as the light around his body flickered weakly with his attempts to keep fighting. Tsunomon lay beside him, too exhausted and injured to continue; around the barrier was a couple Dokugumon looking eager.

Garudamon was looking tired as well, bent on one knee while trying to catch her breath. Sora glanced over to where her sword was, on the other side of the room where it had been tossed. She inwardly cursed the fact that she had been disarmed.

She knew that the others wouldn't make it to them for a good half hour, they were too far away.

Phelesmon just smiled at them. "Well? You're tiring out, and we have two of you at our mercy. What will you do?"

Sora didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to think.

And then something inside her snapped.

"Phelesmon," she said quietly. "May I approach you with a suggestion?"

He smiled evilly. "Certainly. If it is a wish you would like me to grant - "

Sora strode directly up to him, and with all the force of her body and power given by her crest, punched him in the face.

Half an hour later, when Davis, TK, and their partners arrived, they were flabbergasted to discover that all the enemy digimon had fled, leaving Phelesmon floored on the ground and Sora looking extremely pleased with herself, along with Matt, Biyomon, and Tsunomon sitting next to her gazing in awe.

"Do I... want to know exactly what happened?" TK asked, staring at the scene.

Matt nodded vigorously. "Yes. Yes you do. It was epic."


	66. Flirting, Berries Included

A/N: I've actually been doing a lot of writing... a certain chapter is going to be way longer than I thought it would be... and in honor of spring, I present this, even though berry season isn't actually for another month or so. Kenyako alert!

* * *

Yolei blinked as she felt something cool and squishy hit her forehead. She leaned down to the ground and picked up the offending object, raising her eyebrow when she saw it was a berry.

She grinned slightly. "Okay, so who threw this berry at me?"

There was no answer, even though both her D3 and Digigear told her someone was right on the other side of the hedge.

Smiling mischievously, she checked her D3 and using it as a radar, tossed the berry back over.

A moment later, it came back to her.

Seeing that this berry was beginning to look a little bruised from its treatment, Yolei stuffed it in her mouth and picked another one, tossing it over the hedge.

"Hey, this is a different berry," came a voice from the other side.

Yolei shrugged as she checked another branch. Not ripe yet. "The other one was looking a little beat."

There was a mock gasp of astonishment. "What, you ate it? Oh the horror!"

She giggled. "Ken, if this is your idea of flirting, then why are you still over there?"

The boy in question easily slid through the hedges, crossing his arms and smiling. "Any better?"

Yolei just popped another berry into his mouth, letting herself be caught by his embrace. "Much."


	67. Vodka at Four AM

A/N: I guess I don't have much to say about this except that a good few years have most definitely passed since the end of the series. I usually imagine all the characters as being fairly mature, so this idea came up and I wrote it.

* * *

Background: Takes place at least three years after the end of 02, which would be after the Crystal Wars, and a great number of other events that may inspire otherwise happy characters to get themselves drunk in the middle of the night.

* * *

"Dude. Dude. Duuuuuuuude."

Tai sighed and placed one hand on Nicole's head. "Okay, you're drunk, now go upstairs and sleep it off."

She responded by cackling and falling to the floor, wrought with spurts of giggles and making no effort to pull herself back to her room. She eventually lay there, caught by hysterical laughter and a few flailing arms that seemed to accentuate something that only made sense to her.

With a groan, Tai hoisted her up so he was supporting her by the shoulder. "Sometime when it's not four in the morning, remind me why I thought it'd be a good idea to let you drink."

"'Cause you wanted to drink too?" she asked, her voice sounding mostly sober in contrast to her actions, where she was letting herself be dragged across the floor while lolling her head from side to side and grinning idiotically.

He blinked. "Well okay, that... except your tolerance is way lower than mine..." Indeed, he had had the same number of drinks she did, but unlike her he was at least still thinking clearly... somewhat.

"I'm a girl, so duh," she gazed at him goofily, her voice finally reflecting her mindset. "Less body mass to go through, ya know? Oh stairs, how I love thee..."

Tai finally gave up and deposited her onto a couch. He lightly ran back to the kitchen to grab both the nearly empty bottle and the shotglass, and wandered back to where he had left her, finding her grinning and staring at the ceiling while singing something nonsensible.

Deciding he was being extremely irresponsible, he filled the shotglass and handed it to her. "One more for you," he offered, feeling slightly guilty when she grabbed the glass and downed it in a single gulp. "And the rest for me."

"Yaaaaaay," Nicole cheered weakly, pumping a fist into the air as Tai downed the rest of the bottle. "Now we're both wasted!"

"You sound so happy about that," he mumbled, plopping onto another couch to let himself pass out.


	68. Izzy's Voice

A/N: I'm not exactly a guy, but I can imagine that were you stuck with your voice breaking/changing for several years, you might get rather desperate. And we all know that Izzy has a high voice in both the original and the dub, so...

* * *

Background: TK has abilities regarding time. His voice changed way before Izzy's started to.

* * *

"Please?"

"No."

"Come on, aid a friend?"

"No."

"I'll stop bugging you..."

"Izzy, please don't make this harder than it has to be. Just deal with it naturally like the rest of us and it'll be fine."

"But you know what the time ratio here is!" Izzy pleaded, down on one knee and practically begging. "It'll be years before I sound normal again!"

To add to his point, Izzy's voice dramatically broke and dropped down an octave twice as he spoke.

TK winced. "Really though, I don't know enough about anatomy to safely mess around with your time and aging, and it's just better for it to happen normally, in my opinion."

Izzy let out a horrified wail.

"Stop overreacting!"

"I hate my life!"


	69. Boy in Love

A/N: Takari alert! No they are not dating.

* * *

TK couldn't help it. He was in such a happy mood; it was a beautiful day out, the world was peaceful, and in his heart, he was so elated with his mind on a certain girl that he barely even noticed everything around him as he danced about the kitchen.

"Hikari," he sang, twirling around with a piece of bread. "Hikari Kamiya, oh Kari, Kaaari!"

He plopped it down on his plate next to the rest of the half-made sandwich, and reached for the mustard. "Oh Kaari, Kari, Hikaaari!"

He turned with a flourish, and suddenly froze as he saw Kari staring at him with an amused look on her face.

"Hi Kari," he said in a tiny voice. "I was... um... making a sandwich."

She giggled; turning bright red, he picked up his sandwich and snuck himself out the room.


	70. Slipper to Pantry

A/N: Based off of something that happened to me this morning while I was making breakfast. XD

* * *

"So Ken's a good teacher?" Kari quipped, smiling while drinking her smoothie.

Yolei nodded, pouring herself a glass from the blender. "Yeah, he fixed my roundhouse kick today. Apparently I wasn't twisting my body enough and my leg wasn't angled right. But that's all good now. See?"

To demonstrate, she turned away from the blender and performed a roundhouse kick in the air, causing enough wind with the speed of her action that some of the papers on the fridge fluttered.

Unfortunately, she had failed to remove her slippers beforehand.

The one on her foot in the air flew off, and zoomed straight into the pantry, where Kari and Yolei both heard the clank of bottles and the sound of something falling to the floor.

After exactly one second of stunned silence, both girls burst out laughing.


	71. Contact Solution

A/N: There are two types of contact solution... one is normal saline ish, and the other one if not used properly...

* * *

Background: Yolei occasionally wears contacts instead of glasses when doing certain activities.

* * *

Ken had just finished putting on his gi and was preparing to meet up with Yolei and go to one of the training rooms when he suddenly heard her scream from the bathroom.

"Yolei!"

Not caring that he might be bursting in on something, he ran out of his room and across the hall to the bathroom he had heard her cry come from. Thankfully, the door was open so he let himself in. "Yolei! Are you okay?"

Yolei was cursing and had her head in the sink. She had turned the faucet on full blast, diverting the flow with her hands so that it was flushing her right eye.

"I'm fine," she replied, sounding peeved. "I just put in a contact and it burned."

Ken blinked. "A contact? But they don't do that... what solution did you use?"

"I ran out, so I grabbed one of the leftover bottles from the cabinet... I figured it'd be okay..."

Ken immediately opened said cabinet. However, he only had to look at the labels to discover what the entire problem was.

In spite of himself, he burst out laughing and had to cover his mouth. _I'm such a horrible person, but this is kind of ridiculous._

"This is hydrogen peroxide! Of course it burns!"

Yolei began cursing some more.


	72. Awkward

A/N: Sorato and Takari. As a note, I write with the canon couples (Sorato and Kenyako) plus Takari, and occasionally some one-sided Taiora. I really like writing the Truth or Dare scenes, it makes for interesting ways for everyone to interact.

* * *

Background: Matt and Sora are dating, as are TK and Kari.

* * *

Izzy was being devious. Normally he wasn't, but that didn't mean that he never had the opportunity to be so.

"Matt, Truth or Dare?"

"…Truth."

He had actually expected Matt to pick 'dare', but he supposed this meant he could put his other idea in action… one that would certainly cause some very interesting reactions in their circle.

"All right then," he started with an odd, sly grin. "If you had to sleep with any girl in this room, who would you do it with and why?"

There was dead silence and some very shocked staring coming from the other three members of their circle.

Matt gazed around the group. "Izzy… there's only one girl here."

"Yes, I know."

Izzy could feel the exasperated glare the other boy was giving him.

"You are aware," Matt began irritably, "that my girlfriend, my best friend, and my own brother are not going to like this answer?"

"Amen to that," Tai muttered from the couch, while TK nodded in agreement.

Izzy only continued smiling. "Yes."

Matt glanced over to where Kari was sitting next to TK, squirming a little and trying very hard to not look back at him. "And our only girl here has no say in the matter?"

"We'll assume she consented."

Kari groaned and smacked her forehead.

It was at that moment that Sora walked into the room, raising an eyebrow at the expressions of the various people seated on the floor and the couch. Izzy was quite amused when Matt saw her and immediately asked him, "Can I choose Sora?"

Izzy gave him an evil grin. "She wasn't in the room when I asked you the question."

Sora just looked confused. "What is this all about?"

Everyone glanced at each other, noting that Matt was beginning to turn red. "Well, um..." he said quietly. "This is awkward..."

"No kidding," Kari, TK, and Tai all echoed.


	73. Big Sword

A/N: This is my humor release from writing chapter fifteen of 'Survival of Hope'. Rated T for silly teenage humor and innuendo, plus some Takari fluff.

* * *

Background: TK and Kari are dating. Kari has the ability to heal others. TK fights with katars, Matt with a metal bo staff, and Tai with a large sword.

* * *

Tai was extremely annoyed.

He realized that he shouldn't be, but here he was in the midst of a sparring match against someone who wouldn't have stood a chance against him back in the days when they were first traveling the Digiworld, and he was losing. Regardless of how much they had grown, he still had his pride as a fighter, and right now it was being dented.

"Sit still for a second, would you?" he yelled in frustration.

TK just grinned and bounced on his toes a little. "Nope, your sword scares me."

Tai growled and charged forward, swinging. He missed TK completely as the younger boy jumped to the side and practically danced around him, and as he tried to attack again, he felt a gentle tap on the side of his head.

"Gotcha," TK smiled playfully, drawing his katar back.

"Come on Tai, you can fight better than that," Matt called over from the sidelines. Next to him, Kari just clapped politely, apparently torn between the two in who she should cheer for.

Tai just grit his teeth as he and TK began sparring again, ducking and parrying while the younger boy dodged blows and occasionally dove in for a strike with a katar. It was difficult, Tai had to admit, to attack when the opponent had two blades and could follow up each slash with another one in quick combination.

After what might have been merely seconds or several minutes later, TK suddenly fumbled, his normally well coordinated movements momentarily clumsy and slow as his attention seemed somewhere else. Tai took that opportunity to jump forward and take a swing, knowing to hold back despite them both using blunt weapons.

The edge of the sword hit TK in the side.

"Finally, I got one," Tai sighed in relief, as TK groaned and rubbed where the sword had hit.

"Man, this is not fair," he whined a little, though Tai could tell he was still smiling in good nature. "I get bruised every time you get a hit in, and it doesn't help that _someone_," he said pointedly, looking over at a slightly smug looking Kari, "distracted me so I didn't see it coming."

"Oh, you helped me?" Tai perked up in surprise. "Thanks Kari! Family loyalty, always a plus."

TK sheathed the katars and crossed his arms. "And what, no love for the boyfriend?"

Kari made a flirty gesture in his direction. "I figured you'd jabbed Tai enough. Besides, I'm sure you wouldn't mind having that bruise healed."

He lifted an eyebrow. "I certainly don't. Is there something you're not mentioning?"

Her smile grew wider and slightly more cheeky. "Maybe. Or I can distract you more."

"You're doing a pretty good job."

She giggled, holding up a floppy cloth object in her hand and waving it like a flag. "Mine now!"

TK dropped his mouth in mock outrage. "Hey! I gave you that to hold onto so I could spar with your brother!"

Kari just laughed and took off running. TK went after her, following as she pushed the doors of the room open and sped into the hall; moments after both vanished from view, Tai heard a loud female squeal and the sounds of two people laughing.

He and Matt shared a glance. "Well, I guess that sparring match is over," Matt commented, putting his hands in his pockets and grinning like an idiot the couple's antics. "Wow, you must be really out of practice, needing your sister to distract her boyfriend like that."

Tai just planted his sword on the floor and leaned on it tiredly. "Come on, I have one blade, he has two. Use a sword sometime and see how easy it is beat that."

"Excuses. I still don't see how you deal with having such a large sword, I mean it's huge and clunky and gets in the way."

"Really? I'll take it over your walking stick any time!"

"Hey, I've beaten you before with that 'walking stick'. A damn hard metallic one at that. Your sword is just freaking big. Is there some particular reason why you stuck with the big swords, 'cause the fact that you like them seems like it's saying something about you..."

Tai's jaw dropped.

"Oh. It's on. It is on. You get your stick and your ass over here so I can show you what I can do with this 'big sword'."


	74. Oversung

A/N: I do not own the song "Seasons of Love" by Jonathan Larson from the musical Rent. Now that that is said, I'd like to point out that as much as I love this song, it, like any other that is overplayed or oversung, can get very tiring on the ears... as is portrayed.

* * *

Background: Matt and Nicole have psychic abilities, but for different reasons. Nicole is an alto.

* * *

"Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes..."

Nicole reached for the shampoo, and jolted as she suddenly heard Matt's voice in her head.

**I know you can sing, but if you sing that song one more time, I am going to **_**kill**_** you.**

She frowned, then grinned maniacally.

**Okay then.**

With a deep breath, she began to screech out the most annoying song she could think of, making sure sing it much higher than her normal register and to barely land the top notes such that they were out of tune, knowing full well that the response would hurt, but it would be worth it.

Moments later, she got it.

**HOLY MOTHER OF GOD SHUT THE HELL UP!**

Her head pounded, her ears rang, and she was absolutely certain that Matt was going to get revenge on her somehow, but she was satisfied.


	75. Friendly Revenge

A/N: Sequel to the last drabble, taking place perhaps minutes later.

* * *

Background: Matt and Nicole have psychic abilities.

* * *

Matt was determined to get back at Nicole. He knew he had to be quick about it, and that she would know exactly who had done the deed.

It only took him a few moments to come up with a nasty comeback. Since Nicole was still in the shower...

Ten seconds of psychic moving later, he laid back on his bed and waited for the shouting to commence.

Before long, he heard the water shut off in the bathroom. With a sigh, he thought to himself peacefully about the lake in preparation for getting mentally barraged.

**... Matt, what did you do with my clothes?**

**I don't know what you're talking about.**

**You know perfectly well what I'm talking about. Where the hell did you put my clothes?**

Matt just grinned to himself and began humming.

**And not just... the clothes in my dresser are gone too! And my closet! The hell? **

He felt the brush of a mental presence scanning the house, and he tried not to snort, knowing full well that regardless of what happened, she was going to be yelling at him. A lot.


	76. Slightly Incriminating

A/N: Continuation.

* * *

Davis wasn't quite sure what to think when he walked into his room with Kari and Mimi, planning to grab something before heading over to the lake, and saw a large pile of female clothing sitting in the middle of the floor.

"Uh... that's new," he gaped, trying very hard to not look at the underwear and bras dumped ungracefully on top.

He was aware that behind him, Mimi and Kari were gazing at him suspiciously. "Davis, is there something you did recently I should know about?" the latter asked in an unamused tone of voice.

He shook his head vigorously. "No! I don't know why this is in my room! Whose is it anyway?"

Thankfully, having lived in the same house for a fair amount of time had tempered whatever distrust most of them had against each other, and the girls seemed to be conscious of the fact that Davis had no idea why there was female clothing in his room. With a sigh, Mimi stepped forward to inspect the pile.

"I think... this is Nicole's," she said, staring a bit. "But why is her stuff here?"

"Because Matt dumped it here to get back at me for singing annoyingly at him in the shower," a voice spoke from behind them all.

They turned to see Nicole, clad in nothing but a towel, her hair tangled and wet. She looked irritated, for good reason, Davis thought.

"Isn't this a bit extreme for that?" Kari motioned to the pile.

Nicole nodded. "Yeah, that's what I think. I knew Matt would be annoyed and he would do something, but this is overdoing it."

Davis shrugged. "At least he left you the towel."

She rolled her eyes and playfully cuffed him on the head. "Anyway, I'm going to go put some clothes on, move this all back to my room, and then think of some way to prank Matt for this. You're welcome to help me."


	77. The Problem with Pranking Psychics

A/N: Another continuation.

* * *

Background: Matt and Nicole have psychic abilities. The group is planning in the barn.

* * *

"Okay, so here's the problem," Nicole began, looking slightly despaired. "We all know that Matt's good at prerecognition and sensing everything. The only thing we know for certain is that he doesn't do it intentionally very often. And depending on how I react to him in the next few days, he's probably going to notice something off. In fact, I hope he's not trying to check right now since I didn't go up and yell at him like he probably expected me to."

Kari winced. "Well, maybe you can play it off like you forgave him and then pull something without him realizing?"

With a sigh, Nicole rubbed her head and laid back down on the bale of hay. "This is the problem with pranking psychics. They always know when something's up."

"Unless they're you," Davis supplied helpfully.

"... yeah. I know I'm gullible. Anyway, do you guys have ideas?"

Kari and Davis glanced at each other, while Mimi shrugged weakly. "I have one, but..."


	78. Duel to the Death?

A/N: Final installment of this little set.

* * *

The fact that Nicole had not come to yell at him after the entire singing/clothing incident was the first sign that something was off.

"You okay? I mean, you got all your stuff back, right?" Matt asked tentatively a few days later, as he sat at the kitchen counter.

Nicole shrugged as she chewed on what looked like ginger candy. "Gave me a chance to organize my dresser. It's fine, I kind of deserved it for trying to kill your ears."

He frowned, watching as she casually turned the page of the magazine she was reading. From what he could tell, even without using his psychic abilities, there was definitely a little resentment...

A few feet away, Mimi hummed some broadway tune as she turned off the mixer and set aside the bowl of just completed blue icing. Then she glanced at the clock, her eyes then darting towards the oven where Matt knew a cake was baking.

"How much longer?" he asked, tipping his head to one side. If anything, he had grown to really love Mimi's cakes.

She smiled. "Maybe five minutes. It's close to done, though I haven't opened the oven yet to see if it's browning."

"Want me to check for you?"

"That'd be great."

He focused slightly on the oven, not needing to take long to finish his assessment. "No, it's not - "

SPLAT.

Matt blinked a couple times, and slowly turned his head to stare in bewilderment at Nicole, who smiled innocently at him. Mimi just burst into uncontrollable laughter.

He removed the bowl from the top of his head, raising an eyebrow and knowing perfectly well that his hair was now covered in blue icing.

With a questionable gaze at the perpetrator, Nicole shrugged and grinned. "Payback."

He looked at the bowl and shook his head. "Weak. Plus, now Mimi doesn't have any more icing to frost her cake."

Mimi took a couple gasping breaths as she calmed herself. "Actually, I was in on it," she giggled, reaching for the cupboard. "I'm preparing another batch."

He frowned. "As cake frosting or ammunition?"

She and Nicole exchanged a glance. "Well... seeing as all the icing is in your hair..." Nicole pointed out.

Matt gave them both a diabolically unnatural grin, which he was glad to see from their expressions was highly unnerving. "Well then, looks like only one of us here is armed then."

Mimi squealed and ducked down behind the counter. Matt grabbed a slab of icing out of his hair, and in lieu of Mimi being an obvious target, gave Nicole an evil smile.

She responded by staring at him evenly, and grabbing a can of whipped cream that had been sitting on the counter.

"A duel to the death then, is it?" she said, with all seriousness in her voice.

"Yes, with the fate of the world at stake."

Chaos reigned in the kitchen as icing and whipped cream flew in the air... but only until Mimi turned the oven off so she could finish her cake.


	79. At least hose everything down

A/N: Uh, I lied. This is the final installment of this six-part set. Involving someone who was completely non-involved.

* * *

Background: Joe has abilities involving water.

* * *

Joe had smelled the cake, heard the sounds of shouting, and knew he would need to be quick if wanted any, especially knowing the number of hungry 'mons in the area. With that, he had rushed downstairs to try and grab some.

What he did not expect was to enter the kitchen and see blue icing and whipped cream strewn everywhere, along with what looked like flour flying in the air such that it gave the room a misty appearance. The cake was safely sitting on a chair close to the entrance, covered in frosting and perfectly ready to eat, as it was otherwise untouched... but Joe's appetite for baked goods was momentarily forgotten.

Seeing three white coated (and one topped with what looked like blue icing) human figures sliding about in the mess and throwing the food mixture of goo everywhere, he did something perhaps too instinctual as opposed to what he might have done had he not just been watching a horror film with Tai and Hawkmon.

He panicked.

"Gwaaaa!"

SPLOOSH.

Dead silence filled the room, interrupted only by water dripping into the lake that was now the kitchen. Matt, Mimi, and Nicole all stood frozen, Matt in mid-throw, apparently all too much in shock to realize exactly what had just happened, aside from being soaked and standing ankle deep in what looked like a mess of various foods and ingredients, all diluted due to the sudden downpour.

Joe glanced nervously back at the cake. Still unharmed. Well, if this was the case...

He gulped at the three drenched teens, all of whom were quickly rising out of their stupor. "Um, I'll just be stealing the cake now, come upstairs to the media room if you want it," he rambled, picking up the cake and proceeding to run for his life.

They chased after him.

"Get back here Joe! Give us back the cake!"

"You made the mess worse, get over here and help us clean up!"

"If you're gonna' drench us, then at least hose everything down, idiot!"


	80. Can't Beat Myself

A/N: This is based loosely from some old racing games I used to play - your performance on a particular track is saved, and as a result you can later race against yourself (literally, and I think it was called a ghost). I took the idea and put it to Izzy's simulator, except it's the peak performance with simulated AI that everyone can fight against.

* * *

Izzy had been coming down to the SIM room with Tentomon to do a couple practice battles, but quickly realized from the sounds that someone else was already there. A quick check of his Digigear told him it was Tai and Agumon, but he decided to go in regardless and maybe see if they were interested in doing some team strategy rounds.

He and Tentomon arrived just in time to see Tai hurl his shoe at the monitor.

"Tai!" Izzy shouted in horror. "Violence at the machine won't solve anything!"

"No," Tai growled, clenching his fists and glaring murderously at the screen. "Violence _in _the machine does."

Izzy glanced at it. The first thing he saw was an image that showed Tai as he was being killed by... a copy himself, wearing a different set of clothing but complete with the blue sports band and a large sword.

Tentomon spoke for him as they both gazed at the statistics. "You're having trouble beating your Ghost?"

Tai just grumbled, not even bothering to retrieve his shoe. "This is stupid. I've been here all day and I still can't beat my own ass."

Izzy sat for a moment, pondering what the best option was, before offering them up to the frustrated boy before him. "Well, you can either take a break and try again tomorrow, you can do some team battle practice with Tentomon and me, or you can keep trying."

He barely had to wait for a reply.

"Third choice. Hand me my shoe, will you?"

"You're persistent, that's for sure."


	81. Hey someone just fell off a cliff

A/N: There is a very good reason why no one is really concerned, given the ability she has.

* * *

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU - "

Cody scratched his head. "So whose bright idea was it to roughhouse on the edge of a cliff?"

All the other boys glanced at each other, while the girls (minus the one currently in freefall) just groaned and glared at them.

"I think the question is," Sora began. "Why did all of you think it was smart to join in?"

"... it seemed fun at the time?" Ken offered, looking visibly embarrassed.

There were a few moments of silence.

"Is someone gonna' help her?"


	82. Your sister is scary to spar with

A/N: Been a while, huh? Haven't been writing much lately... but I'm getting back into it.

* * *

Background: Everyone is training for combat, and has just started sparring full on with each other with their respective weapons. TK is one of Kari's regular sparring partners. Kari fights with chain-based weapons. Look up "meteor hammer" and "nine section chain whip" for an idea of what it's like.

* * *

Davis and Tai had been casually tossing around an apple in the kitchen (as casual as that was) when Matt staggered in and made a beeline straight for the fridge.

The younger immediately made note of the staff still slung over the blonde's shoulder. "Sparring?"

Matt nodded tiredly, grabbing what looked like a power drink and leftover pasta. He proceeded to grab a fork and collapse at the table, unceremoniously dumping the staff on the floor beside him.

Then he looked up directly at Tai.

"Your sister," he stated, "is _scary_ to spar with."

Tai smiled proudly. "I told you. She's a big girl now, and all that training we've been through shows a lot in her."

Matt nodded back at him dumbly as he stuffed a pasta shell in his mouth. "No kidding," he mumbled as he chewed and swallowed. "Now I know why TK is so fast too, because he has to stay away from her whip... chain... meteor hammer... nunchuck... thing. I liked it better when we were unarmed."

Tai sat back slightly, tossing the apple between his hands. "Man, if she had been able to do that back during the Odaiba Incident, I don't think you and Sora would've had to worry as much. She's grown a lot..."

"...erk..."

The two elder boys turned to glance at Davis, who was looking between them with a slightly pale face. "I haven't sparred with her yet," he replied, seeming a little uneasy. "And I'm supposed to be her partner later today."

Matt and Tai looked at each other.

"Have fun."

"Good luck."


	83. Good lord woman clothe yourself

A/N: Likely takes place towards the beginning of the stay in the Digiworld.

* * *

Yolei was changing, and it took her only a few moments after putting on a shirt to realize she had a problem.

"I really need to do laundry," she groaned as she crouched down and opened up another drawer and searched through it for a pair of pants. She lifted out a pair of shorts and immediately put it back. "No, I need jeans, not shorts, because it's too cold for shorts, and I don't really want to wear a skirt..."

"Hey Yolei, do you wanna' – aaaagh! Good lord woman, clothe yourself!"

She turned from where she was still crouched on the floor and glared at Davis, who was standing in the doorway shielding his eyes. "Am I supposed to be insulted?"

Davis grimaced from behind his hands. "Well I'm not the one wandering around without pants on!"

She rolled her eyes. "Davis, I've seen you in your boxers. You've seen me in a bikini. We're living in the same house, and I can't find a clean pair of jeans. Get used to it. Now out."

Davis obediently left.


	84. How to Pop Popcorn

A/N: Silliness with popcorn. Flaredance is a female Scyzard, which is to say, a cross between a Scyther and a Charizard... yeah, I'm a Charizard/Scyther shipper...

* * *

Gatomon gazed at the screen, engrossed in the movie as she lay on her stomach on the rug between the couch and the TV. She dug a paw into the popcorn bowl, her brows furrowing as she felt around...

"We're out?" she sat up, glancing into the bowl that contained nothing but unpopped kernels.

With a sigh, Kari, who herself was also on her stomach next to her partner, grabbed the remote and paused the movie. "I'll go pop some more," she answered, standing and picking up the bowl.

"Wait, I'll do it!"

Kari and Gatomon blinked as Flaredance jumped up from her spot on the couch and whizzed out of the room, apparently flying at top speed to the kitchen. Barely a minute later, the pokémon had returned with a new unpopped bag, the wrapping already removed with a single slice of her blade.

Then she delicately held the bag over her tail flame.

After many popping noises and a near explosion of the bag, Flaredance proceeded to open it and pour the newly popped popcorn into the bowl. "All done!" she exclaimed brightly, waggling her tail a little as she plopped back down on the couch. "Start the movie again!"

Gatomon happily dove into the bowl of popcorn, but Kari just grinned at the pokémon. "Nice work. Where'd you get the idea from?"

Flaredance shrugged. "Dad when he was frying eggs. I thought it'd work for popcorn too."


	85. How Not to Pop Popcorn

A/N: Continuation.

* * *

Somehow, Flaredance's method of making popcorn quickly became popular amongst every member of the household who had any sort of fire abilities. Except for Agumon.

"Hey, I'll make the popcorn this time! Pepper Breath!"

KAFOOM.

Everyone carefully turned back towards Agumon after having shielded themselves and just looked sadly at the exploded bag and charred crisps littering the floor.

Sora shook her head, sighing. "No, Agumon, just... no."


	86. Day Twenty Three: Bored

A/N: Another Crystal War drabble. It's annoying me how much backstory I would have to write before even starting this story, not to mention with what else I'm trying to finish...

* * *

Background: The first part takes place during the Crystal War (yes, I'm changing War to be singular), second part after. TK keeps a video journal to record events during the war. Those involved have a working knowledge of French, but are likely not very good at it.

* * *

"... is this thing on? Cool. Uh, I'll figure out the actual date later, but it's... Tai, how long have we been here?"

"Twenty-three days."

"Right. Video log day twenty-three of being stuck hiding in this cave. Still disconnected from everyone else, no idea what's going on outside, except for that enemy patrol that combs the area every four hours and it rained last night. Not really much else, except that Tai and me are bored out of our minds, and we're still not recovered enough to make a run for it. And I found more edible mushrooms in one of the caverns, so we're set on food for a while longer. Tai, anything interesting happen on your end?"

"What, you're giving this to me? ...okay. Uh, the grill idea didn't work because I made the stone too hot and burnt dinner. And I won like seven out of ten rounds of thumb wrestling."

"Yeah. We also sang through about every single Disney song we could think of. In multiple languages."

"... we are so bored."

"Next, we should translate the Star Wars movies into French. With what we can remember anyway."

"Okay, to whoever watches this log in the future, whether it's us looking back on everything or some Digiworld historian trying to figure out what us Digidestined were like, let it be known: Tai and TK were stuck hiding in a cave, and they became very _bored_."

"Hooray! Anything else?"

"Not really. Unless you feel like recording us singing a musical or something."

"I guess I'll just turn this off then..."

Joe paused the video and turned to look at TK and Tai, who were gazing at the screen with fond expressions.

"Did you guys actually do it?" he asked, slightly incredulous.

Tai raised an eyebrow. "Do what?"

"Translate Star Wars into French?"

TK grinned embarrassingly. "Yeah. We recorded it too, for fun, it's the next entry if you keep watching. Tai makes a pretty good Yoda, even though he was limping around the entire time."

Joe stared for a moment, and shook his head. "Wow. Well, indeed it is known that you two were very bored."


	87. Bother

A/N: It had to happen sometime. I don't own Potter Puppet Pals...

* * *

Matt knew that Gomamon and Patamon were up to something when they both rounded the corner of the barn.

"Do you... need something?" he asked tentatively, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms.

Gomamon and Patamon just grinned at him innocently.

And proceeded to tackle him to the ground, whapping him with their flippers and wings.

"Bother bother bother bother bother bother bother bother - "

"Ack!"


	88. Only Homicidal Ingame

A/N: RPG gamers, every done this before?

* * *

"Mwahahahaha..."

Izzy peered over Nicole's shoulder, gazing down at her laptop screen. "Playing that computer game again?"

"Yep. Just messing around this time 'cuz I'm bored."

He sighed as he leaned gently against her chair. "Seriously, why do you feel a need to play RPG's when our lives are already as insane as they are?"

She shrugged. "It's fun to play by other rules every now and then. And on that note..."

There were shouts and screams of 'Murder!' from the computer, as Nicole madly clicked with a grin on her face.

Izzy dropped his jaw. "You're just running around killing all the NPCs!"

She giggled, which sounded extremely disturbing considering what she was doing in this computer world. "I call it Operation Massacre Everyone the City."

At Izzy's expression of absolute horror, she shrugged at him. "Hey, it's not like I save the game, and plus this is legitimately an official computer game – cost me forty dollars too."

Izzy shook his head, remembering quite distinctly of a certain indigo-haired genius who, under the influence of the Dark Spore, had once done quite perverse things to a real universe. "Considering what you're capable of in real life, I'm scared of what might happen if you ever decided to go on a mass killing spree."


	89. Pirates?

A/N: Casual dinner. Takes place towards the beginning of the stay in the Digiworld.

* * *

"Pirates or Ninjas?"

Those eating at the table all paused to glance up at Davis, who seeming genuinely interested in what everyone's comments would be. "Why the sudden question?" Joe asked, tilting his head as he held his chopsticks over his bowl of rice.

The boy in question shrugged. "No reason. Just wanted to know."

"Technically, that's a reason," Cody pointed out with a smile. "That's a tricky question, I'm not sure."

Mimi huffed slightly, stabbing a piece of lettuce with her fork. "The funny thing is, asking a ninja whether they like pirates or ninjas better is just going to end badly."

"So you're a ninja now?" Tai grinned. "And pass the dumplings down."

"Give me your plate. And considering my training, I have to say yes."

Tai picked up his plate and handed it to her, where she began ladling dumplings onto it from her much better position. "So you'll pick ninjas then, that's what you're saying."

"Yes. This enough?"

"Yeah, that's good. Actually, I'm going for ninjas too since... well, they're from Japan, and I'm Japanese, and they're cool anyway, so I figure why not be patriotic and choose them. Thanks Mimi," he added as she returned him his plate.

"No problem."

Cody poked one of the baby tomatoes in his salad. "I'm not sure what I would choose. I guess I'll lean towards ninjas, but that's only because I'm more familiar with them."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Yolei replied, a half eaten dumpling perched in her chopsticks as she paused from eating. "I totally go for ninjas, they're cool."

Quickly, others began voicing their opinions, both humans and 'mons.

"Ninjas."

"Definitely ninjas."

"I'm not sure... but I'm thinking ninjas."

"Ninjas."

"...pirates?"

Everyone turned to look at Joe, who was quickly trying to blend in with the table.

Tai stood up dramatically. "Non-believer! Blasphemer!" he pointed at Joe and shouted in a loud booming voice.

Joe crossed his arms stubbornly. "I refuse to give into this peer-pressure."

"Oh really?" Tai held up a hand, a small ball of flame flickering into existence as he grinned maniacally.

The fire was immediately extinguished by a short burst of water, leaving Tai's hand wet. "Fire types are weak against water," Joe chided, turning back to his dinner.

"Boys, no using crest powers at the dinner table," Sora called from her seat, "Especially when I'm the one who made dinner tonight."

"Yes ma'am."

Tai sat back down.

The rest of the table burst out laughing.


	90. Prepare to Die

A/N: I don't own the Princess Bride... not the movie anyway. Was one of my favorite movies in middle school. XD Besides, I figure something like this would eventually happen...

* * *

Izzy yawned as he stepped into the main training room. He was planning to work some more on dodging, something that Mimi and Tentomon had agreed to help him with, so he was dressed lightly in clothing that would facilitate quick movement. Some day when he was better, he would start wearing more constricting clothing or light armor so he could continue to improve.

When he saw Ken step into the room, he waved, assuming that the other boy was also planning to work on something as well.

However, Ken did something that Izzy did not expect whatsoever.

Ken marched up to him, and looked him straight in the eye with a serious look on his face.

"Hello," he spoke. "My name is Ken Ichijouji. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Poke.

Izzy dropped his jaw. "What?"

"Hello. My name is Ken Ichijouji. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Poke.

"Ken, what are you doing? Is that a spoon you're poking me with?"

"Hello. My name is Ken Ichijouji. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Poke.

"... seriously Ken, what are you doing? You're starting to creep me out."

"Hello. My name is Ken Ichijouji. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Poke.

"..."

"Hello. My name is Ken Ichijouji. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Poke.

"You... haven't lost your mind, have you?"

"Hello. My name is Ken Ichijouji. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Poke.

"Okay, okay, I get it. I apparently killed your father and you're trying to kill me with a spoon. Can you stop now?"

"Hello. My name is Ken Ichijouji. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Poke.

"Cut it out!"

"Hello. My name is Ken Ichijouji. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Poke.

Izzy was somewhat unnerved now. After all, this was _Ken_ of all people doing this. He might have expected someone like Tai, or Davis, or Nicole, but Ken? Fairly serious boy genius?

"Hello. My name is Ken Ichijouji. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Poke.

He threw his arms up in the air. "That's it, I'm leaving. Someone needs to get you a shrink."

And he turned to leave the room.

Ken followed him.

"Hello. My name is Ken Ichijouji. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Poke.

"Gaaah!"

Izzy ran.

Ken sat for a moment and stared at the doorway where Izzy had just left, then sighed in resignation, shaking his head and putting a hand to his forehead.

From behind one of the other doors, Davis stepped out holding his stomach, barely able to keep from bursting out into laughter. A few moments later as he approached Ken, he failed.

"I-I can't believe you actually did it!"he gasped, in between breaths.

Ken rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and now he's going to think I'm absolutely insane."

Davis just grinned, clapping his hand on Ken's back. "But wasn't his reaction worth it?"

"Yeah," Ken nodded, having to smile in spite of himself. "It was. Now hand over the money Davis, you owe me."

"Best one thousand yen I ever bet."

"I'm starting to think one thousand yen isn't worth all of the stares I'm going to get when Izzy tells everyone else what I did."


	91. Envy

A/N: Kenyako alert!

* * *

Ken was upset.

Granted, he figured he had every right, though he had never thought himself to be the envious type when it came to relationships. After all, he had been living with Yolei for years now, and Ben had just waltzed in and was trying to _take her away from him_ –

Yolei had noticed Ken's irritated behavior, and realized that first of all, she had never seen him like this before. And secondly, she knew who he was upset with, and she herself was having issues with this particular new digidestined who, she swore, flirted with every walking thing with breasts. Except for Angewomon, who probably would have "Celestial Arrow"-ed him on the spot.

She had put up with it for a while, more out of politeness than anything. However, Ben had just continued his antics, seeming to focus more and more on her, until the flirts became ridiculous pick-up lines, and then comments of things she had no intention of doing with him, thank you very much.

So one day when she was out on patrol with both boys, and she realized just how irritated Ken was, combined with her own feelings about the situation...

Ben winked at her. "Come on, you and me? Ya' know?"

Ken audibly growled.

That was it.

She turned to Ben with an extremely sweet look, batting her eyelashes. "Ben?"

"Yes?"

"Come here."

He eagerly did.

She proceeded to grab his head and bash it repeatedly into a nearby rock.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow - "


	92. Not a Popular Guy

A/N: Follow-up to the last drabble. Kenyako, Sorato, and implied Takari.

To Davisfan - Yes, but Lilymon is also likely a lot more patient with annoyances like Ben than Angewomon is.

* * *

Background: Yolei's abilities involve memories and such. Matt's are psychic related.

* * *

Ken frowned. "Yolei, what was the point of bashing his head into a rock if you just erased his memory of it right afterwards?"

She laughed weakly. "I didn't want him getting mad at us while we were on patrol. Besides, he did stop bugging me."

"But now he's gone after Sora. I can't say Matt is too thrilled about that."

Just as Ken replied, there was the sound of an explosion from a nearby clearing, accompanied by visible blue energy and a male scream.

They both looked at each other.

"Matt probably isn't going to care that Ben will definitely remember this," Ken commented flatly. "Depending on whatever brain damage he receives."

"Well, hopefully he knows better than to go after Kari. Then he'll have TK and Tai to deal with. Probably Davis too."

"He really isn't making himself very popular is he?"


	93. You guys are mean

A/N: Based off of real events. o.O

And to Davisfan - Everyone has their own opinions about the characters, whether they're liked or not, who they pair with, etc., but as a longtime Digimon fan, I've grown to love all the 'Adventure' characters dearly. Some are just more fun to put into ridiculous situations than others. Others just wouldn't be involved in certain activities because of their personalities. And if you like certain characters more than others, then just focus on them rather than the ones you don't like.

Personal note: I was a Taiora fan. Then Sorato became canon. I had to convert. I still think Taiora is cuter. *runs away*

* * *

Background: Takes place during combat training towards the beginning of the stay in the Digiworld.

* * *

Tai supposed he looked a little ridiculous, lying down on his back with his legs spread against the wall. He was starting to envy the girls for being a lot more flexible – Mimi could already kick over her head, and the others weren't far behind – and then there was him. At least he was decent in comparison to the non-athletes.

"What're you doing?"

He tilted his head back to see Davis standing there, looking perplexed.

"Trying to do the splits upside down," he replied, letting his arms go limp against the floor.

TK also trotted up, hands on his hips. "Well, that's not how you do it," he chided, crossing his arms and approaching. He glanced over at Davis with a subtle grin, and then turned around and sat on Tai's leg.

Tai's eyes widened. "Wait - "

Davis just nonchalantly stretched his arms up and did the exact same thing TK had – on the other leg. "Yeah, you need to actually push your legs apart, for one."

"GAAAAAAAAH OFF OFF OFF OFF OFF OFF OFF GET OFF GET OFF!"

The two boys stood and laughed.

Tai glared at them. "You guys are mean."


	94. Our Lives Suck Club

A/N: This was, indeed, purely random, though inspired by late night conversations in dorm rooms. Also the result of working on the major fic at about 3 am...

* * *

It was purely random conversation. On top of Cody's bed, for that matter.

"But we're Digidestined, it's really an honor that we were chosen," Kari frowned, crossing her arms.

Ken sighed. "Still though, you have to admit there are some aspects of our life that really just… suck."

"Oh, so we should rename ourselves the 'Our Lives Suck' club?"

Cody stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It has a nice ring to it. 'We are the Our Lives Suck club, here have a cookie.'"

"The only problem," Yolei pointed out, "is if any of the members have diabetes. Then it really does suck."

"We could try sugar-free cookies?" TK suggested.

"Ew," Davis replied, making a disgusted face.

TK shrugged helplessly back. "Hey, I'm just saying..."

"So the conclusion," Cody said in an announcing tone, "is that we reform into the Our Lives Suck club and we bake sugar-free cookies as incentive for more people to join us."

Davis nodded, amused. "Yeah, I guess that sounds about right. Hey, you guys think we could move to the floor? I'm falling off the bed."


	95. Girl Thing

A/N: Direct sequel.

* * *

After Davis' spectacular fall to the floor, where he had fallen, curled himself up, rolled backwards, and then performed a kip-up back to his feet, the others were trying to convince him to rejoin them on the bed.

"There's not a whole lot of room," he explained, scratching his head. "I mean, it was tough getting the six of us on there in the first place."

The others looked at each other. "We'll make room," TK replied, and began trying to scoot.

Although the image of the other five trying to scoot to one end of the bed and messing up Cody's nicely made bed was amusing, Davis shook his head. "Nah, it's okay, I'll just stand."

"Now you're being ridiculous," Yolei rolled her eyes. "Here, I have an idea. Kari, come sit in my lap."

Kari nodded in reply. "Okay!" she answered chipperly.

She quickly moved and seated herself in Yolei's lap, while the other boys glanced at each other.

"That... works?" Ken looked confusedly at the two.

Yolei grinned a little. "Don't worry, Kari's light. Come on Davis, sit back down."

Davis shrugged helplessly. "Well, okay..."

Quietly, he reseated himself on the bed where Kari had been sitting and gazed at the others.

They were silent for a moment.

"So, cookies..." Cody began just as someone passed by the open door to his room.

The person in question stopped and stared at them. "Why is Kari in Yolei's lap?" Joe asked, looking puzzled.

The two girls just called to him cheerfully. "Girl thing!"


	96. Thirteen Humans, One Couch

A/N: I'd imagine this to be very painful. o.O

* * *

It was a sight to behold.

Digimon and pokémon alike stared. From the jumble of arms and legs and the faces gasping for air, all they knew was that somehow, a couch meant for two people had thirteen on it, and miraculously, no one was in danger of falling off.

"How did you guys manage this...?" Wormmon asked, gaping in disbelief.

Somewhere from the bottom, a female voice groaned. "Don't ask me... guys, I can't breathe..."

"Everyone, move a little so Sora gets some air."

"But then we'll all fall!"

"Nicole... boobs... face..." said a smothered male voice.

"I'd move, but someone's sitting on my head."

"Oh, but your head is so comfortable."

"You can't move either, can you?"

"Not really."

"Someone's got really pointy knees."

"That'd be me..."

Gengar grinned at them. "So what were you guys doing, trying to have an orgy?"

There were shouts of outrage.

"Ew! No!"

"Bad mental images!"

"Stupid dirty-minded ghost-types..."

Click. Flash.

"Someone just took a picture?"

"I'm betting it was Raichu."

"It was."

Gatomon sweatdropped. "Okay, in all seriousness, what were you all trying to do?"

Everyone replied in unison.

"We wanted to see if we could fit thirteen people on the couch."

"Well, it's more like twelve and a half because Cody's like half a person compared to the rest of us."

"I am kind of the youngest... and the smallest..."

"But don't worry Cody, you're not a halfling like Izzy."

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that!"

"I said halfling, not hobbit."

"Besides, if that's really the case, then we only have twelve people, not thirteen."

"I'm not half a person!"

"You are in size, you're like half Joe's height."

Blastoise stretched upwards and yawned. "Well then," she stated, "If you only have twelve people then I might as well join you."

She moved towards the couch.

Everyone on it screamed.

"Nooooooooooooo!"


	97. Lock Picking

A/N: Kind of a belated response to writing the latest chapter of the current project. It's not really funny, but given how much I've been thinking about the sequel, I felt a need to write something like this. So needless to say... subtle spoilers/hints for both Survival and its sequel.

* * *

"Lock picking?"

TK jumped. He hadn't even heard Cody approach, much less make it to where he had holed himself up in the corner of the reading room.

"Yeah," he shrugged, grinning a little as he held up the book. "I figure it might be useful."

Cody just frowned at him. "You're not planning to start unlocking everything and steal everyone's diaries or something, right?"

TK had to laugh. "No way," he answered, inserting his paper bookmark and closing the book. "I'm just interested in lock picking, that's all."

Cody sighed, putting his hands in his pockets. "Well, I guess it has to come in handy some time. Just don't let me catch you trying to unlock the bathroom while Mimi's in it or something."

"Hey, I have integrity, you know!"

Cody laughed, picking up his own book. "I know. Anyway, don't get too caught up in reading, dinner's in half an hour."

TK waved cheerfully. "Okay!"

As Cody left the room, TK sighed and reopened his book. He hoped it hadn't showed that he had actually been slightly nervous, as there was a reason why he was reading this book. Quietly, he turned over the bookmark, gazing at his rough sketch of the lock mechanism he had been trying to figure out.

_I feel kind of bad not telling him the real reason why I'm reading this. At least it's hard to guess._

Remembering the reason though gave him another burst of encouragement, and he quietly returned to reading.


	98. Can we escape now

A/N: I wrote a couple lines in a story and got hit by my science side.

* * *

Background: Lots of crest powers for everyone...

* * *

Izzy had his arms crossed and was gazing at them intensely the moment TK and Kari entered the room.

Kari blinked at him. "Do you need something Izzy?"

He looked at them with discerning eyes.

"This whole light and darkness thing," he answered firmly. "I know that there's physically manifested light and darkness, but scientifically, it makes no sense."

TK frowned. "Since when has much of the Digiworld made scientific sense?"

Izzy snapped his fingers irritably. "That's the thing I've been thinking about! See, Tai can make fire appear, and I bet what his power probably is is that he somehow manages to cause chemical reactions in the air – probably oxidation – which creates the flames he has. Then there's Davis, who perhaps is just changing the amount of electrical charge on both his target and wherever he wants the lightning to sprout from, so that the electrons just shoot across. Joe probably just takes water molecules directly out of the air and condenses it into a liquid form, though by that logic he should also be able to slow the molecules down so it crystallizes into an ice form, which he can't do. But what I really don't get is how light and darkness can be a physical manifestation when technically, darkness is just the absence of light, and light is made up of photons, and as we know it in terms of visible light, it's just electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength between about four hundred and eight hundred nanometers."

Kari and TK looked at each other.

"Maybe we're just shooting photon beams?" she suggested, trying to sound helpful.

"Or maybe you're reading a little too far into this?" TK supplied.

Izzy threw his arms in the air. "Not to mention that Ken's just doesn't make sense at all! Mimi's shouldn't be able to happen! Yolei and me can probably read the electrical signals between neurons and translate them differently, and Sora just gets to move air, but if that's the case then she can move individual molecules, which means she should be able to do the exact same things as Tai and Joe, which we all know she can't, then Cody apparently has the force or something, I don't even know how to explain Matt's, and Nicole's like a mutant so she doesn't count. Then there's you two with your actual crest powers, of which only TK's is technically possible given relativity, and since Kari doesn't have anything time based in hers, I don't get how it works! This is so infuriating!"

"...uh."

Kari reached over and tapped in morse code behind TK's back.

'Can we escape now'


	99. Sunrise

A/N: Vaguely romantic drabble. I didn't have a particular couple in mind when I wrote it, but...

* * *

It was dark when he woke, the lights turned out and sky showing only the barest hints of dawn. Not fully awake, he shifted his position slightly, then relaxed back into the soft cushions of the couch where he had fallen asleep the night before.

She was still there, sleeping beside him with her body tucked into the shelter of his own. He gently draped an arm over her protectively, placing his hand atop hers, feeling the calluses in her palms and fingers, but knowing how small and delicate her hand seemed compared to his...

Someone had placed a blanket over the two of them, and he welcomed the gesture, taking in the warmth provided by the layers of fabric and the body before him. For a few moments, he blissfully lay there, feeling so comfortable and so safe; and somehow, knowing that his desire to protect her from the threatening world with all its dangers could only be natural, given everything that had happened the day before.

He opened his eyes slightly, gazing out the window again. He could see a streak of pink across the dark sky, the first light of dawn as the sun began to rise.

He gave her a gentle shake. "Hey, wake up. The sun's rising."

She turned a bit, stretching as she tilted her head up to the window. "It's beautiful," she whispered, holding his hand close to her.

He held her with him, together on the couch as they watched the sun rise through the window. It was a kind of peace, lying there with her and feeling her body's warmth, feeling safe and loved, and being filled with happiness, being able to share this moment with her.

He shifted again, and suddenly found her gripping his shirt. "Don't go," she whispered, and he realized from the slight shudder in her voice to the shaking of her hand, that she was afraid, afraid of losing him…

He hugged her tightly. "I'm not going anywhere," he murmured back, gently kissing her head. "I'm right here with you."


	100. Bop It

A/N: Wow, one hundred already? I feel like I should have written something special, but I didn't. I just wrote something involving a little toy that was popular for quite a few years... makes me feel old remembering when I used to play with it. Just, somehow I can imagine this amusing quite a number of people. Not quite as digimon based as others, but I don't see Mimi as the kind of person who would own a Bop It considering when she moved to the States, so...

* * *

Background: The A team is Nicole's main team that she traveled around with during her journey. Stellath is a dragon able to shift sizes, and probably the closest thing to a digimon partner that Nicole will ever have. Yes, I know this is kind of weird, but that's kind of how it is and it's been stuck that way for a long time...

* * *

Davis wasn't quite sure what was going on. All he knew was that Nicole, her A team, and Stellath were all standing in a circle, passing something around that was emitting a rhythm and strange noises. Every now and then, he would hear the words "Pass it!" Then whoever had the object would pass it to the next being in the circle.

He glanced at Veemon, who also looked somewhat confused. "You know what's going on?" the digimon asked quietly, as though not wanting to disturb whatever it was the others were doing.

"No…"

Scyther had the object now, and she seemed a little bit annoyed, holding it between two blades and pulling at different knobs with her mouth. Davis leaned a little closer, noting that it looked slightly like a steering wheel, but it obviously wasn't...

Then suddenly the device shouted, "AAAAAH! Killer dude, you're out."

Scyther sighed and handed the object to Venusaur. "I forgot how hard it is to play this when you don't have hands or any prehensile things."

Raichu scratched her head and grimaced slightly. "Well, it was made for humans after all."

"Lucky humans," Stellath flicked her tongue out at Nicole, who childishly stuck her own tongue back out at the dragon.

It was then that Davis decided to jump in. "Hey guys, what is that?"

The group turned to him and Veemon, all smiling. "We're playing Bop It," Venusaur answered, waving the toy with a vine. "Extreme, because it's just that awesome."

"I found it at home last time we went to visit and thought it'd be fun to bring back," Nicole explained, grinning a little. "We used to play with this a lot back in the day."

"Good times during the three years when life was boring," Gengar added with a slightly wistful smile.

Veemon bounced up a little. "So, how do you play?"

Surprisingly, Blastoise was the one who answered. "Well, you just follow the directions the music gives you," she replied, crossing her arms sternly. "It tells you to do things and you do them on the Bop It."

Venusaur was twisting a couple knobs, and he handed it to Davis. "Here, give it a try. I changed it to the mode where it talks for you."

Davis stared at the object. Four odd knob things, each differently colored with different words beside them, and a large button in the middle with the boldly emblazoned English words "Bop It Extreme".

"Hit the 'Bop It' button," Charizard suggested, holding a claw up helpfully.

He did.

Davis and Veemon were pulled in immediately.


	101. You're still playing!

A/N: Follow-up to the last drabble. Takes place several hours later.

* * *

Davis sat, watching Veemon silently and fearing for the digimon's sanity. Granted, he had had a great deal of fun playing with this toy, but even he knew there were limits, especially with something like this…

Moments later, Nicole rounded the corner and gaped.

"You're _still _playing?" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"Shhhh! Gotta concentrate!" Veemon yelled in response, too busy with the toy to do anything else.

Davis and Nicole looked at each other.

**You say it, he's your partner…**

He nodded in reply.

"Five more minutes, then I'm taking it," Davis said firmly. "Besides, it's not yours."


	102. Kamiya Siblings 'Technique'

A/N: I had thought up a couple other ideas, but realized they'd work much better as a scene in the main story. This however, is a little more on the silly side, although I'd imagine this to be effective in actual combat.

* * *

Background: Tai fights with a large sword, Joe fights with a spear. Kari has abilities regarding light.

* * *

"Hey Joe, come here!"

Joe paused from his spear forms and looked over at Tai. "What do you need?" he asked as he began walking towards the other boy.

Tai was grinning widely, with perhaps just a bit of deviousness. "I need you spar with me so I can test out this new technique Kari and I thought up."

Joe glanced at Kari, who was standing nearby smiling. "Okay, I guess that works, since Kari's here…"

The two briefly bowed to one another as courtesy. Then Tai lifted his sword into battle position while Joe moved into a ready stance, and the two began to spar.

Joe had always had trouble blocking Tai's attacks, as his sword was heavier and so more weight went into each swing, but on the other side it meant he was a little bit slower (though not by much – he had spent a great deal of time training to make up for that weakness). However, Tai was also someone who focused strongly on offense, so Joe was spending the majority of his time watching the sword movements and dancing around trying not to get hit while looking for openings.

Then Tai grinned.

"Kari, now!"

She held a hand up, and light burst from her to become a blinding flash.

Joe made sure not to look in her direction. _So this is the 'technique'? But Tai hasn't done anything – _

Tai leveled his sword, and the light reflected sharply off the shiny metal.

Right at Joe's face.

"Gah! My eyes!"

Needless to say, the spar ended rather quickly after that.


	103. Today I feel like a WOMAN

A/N: Ken's assumption is correct. Kenyako implied.

* * *

Yolei marched over and climbed onto the kitchen table.

"Today," she announced, lifting one fist to the heavens, "I feel like… a WOMAN!"

There was dead silence in the kitchen.

"Um… that's great?" Hawkmon answered bemusedly.

Then without another word, Yolei stepped down from the table and exited with a proud strut.

Everyone looked at Ken accusingly.

He blinked, and then his eyes widened when he realized that everyone's gaze was on him. "I didn't do anything, honestly, I have no idea what prompted that."

Davis leered at him. "Reeeaaaally?"

Ken swatted the other boy away with a spatula. "Maybe she just feels like a woman today."


	104. Gomamon's Cat Song Excerpt

A/N: Inspired by the fact that Gomamon and Naruto have the same voice actress, and Junko Takeuchi, on one of the Naruto radio shows, played guitar and sang a song about her cats. I kept Gomamon's song in Japanese because it wouldn't be nearly as cute in English. XD

* * *

Gomamon was being uncharacteristically shy.

"Come on Gomamon, it'll be fine," Matt urged him. "Part of playing music is sharing it with others."

Gomamon just hid behind one of the couch cushions. "But this is embarrassing! I don't even know why I wrote this song!"

Joe frowned. "Come on, it's just me, Matt, and Gabumon here. And we all know you, we've known you for years. It'll be fine, and we want to hear you."

Gomamon peeked out from behind the cushion at the three of them, as though torn between the choice of performing or hiding. Finally, as he looked at their expectant eyes, he sighed.

"Okay okay, I'll give it a try."

Joe cheered, while Matt and Gabumon clapped appreciatively. "Go for it!"

Gomamon carefully crawled over to the other couch, and propped himself behind the guitar that was already there. He took the neck of the guitar in one flipper, the tips of his claws gently touching the fingerboard. "Okay, so this is the song I wrote... Gomamon's Cat Song."

He strummed the guitar strings and began to sing.

"Neko neko neko neko neko neko nyaaaan!"

Matt couldn't help himself. He just burst out laughing, unable to stop, as Gabumon held his own muzzle closed and Joe's face was oddly stiff, as though he was trying desperately to hold back his own laughter out of politeness.

Gomamon stopped playing, gazing at them. "Well good, you guys laughed," he said with a sheepish grin. "I was hoping someone would find it funny."

Joe was unable to hold himself back, and finally began laughing as well. "That's what you were worried about? That no one would find it funny?" he gasped.

"Well, yeah, it wasn't supposed to be serious. Want me to play the rest?"

Gabumon took several deep breaths. "Why don't you give us a few moments to recover? If the rest of the song is like that, I think we'll all suffocate if you play it now."


	105. Carpentry?

Sora frowned at the wreckage she saw before her.

"Okay, this is the fifth table this month. When is one of us going to take up carpentry so we don't have to keep buying new furniture?"

"Do I get to burn the broken stuff?" Tai grinned maniacally.

She chucked her shoe at him.


	106. Potentially Dangerous Spoons

A/N: Well, here's how one of these tables mentioned in the previous chapter was broken... and Spoons is a very fun card game.

* * *

Background: Scizor is on Ken's battling team.

* * *

"So, you know about how Davis and Ken once switched weapons right before a mission?" Joe commented nonchalantly as he continued to pick up the card that arrived on his right, glance at it, and then pass it to the next person.

Scizor shook his head as he took a card, quickly replaced one of the cards within his hand and discarded the previous card to the next person in the circle. "Yes, I heard their missions went well regardless."

Joe sighed. "Except that Davis nearly took off someone's head."

"My head, actually," Yolei passed a card on.

"Was Ken upset at all?" Mimi asked as she took the card and glanced at it before placing it to her left.

"Not really, because Davis wasn't quite used to using it and didn't mean to almost take off my head. Tentomon, cards."

Tentomon looked down to his right, where a card pile was waiting. "Sorry," he muttered as he tried to go through them faster. "Working on it."

Yolei sighed, as she also continued to pass cards. "Well, that's why – crap!"

Her exclamation was at the fact that one of the spoons in the center of the table was missing.

There was a mad scramble to grab the rest of the spoons, everyone shouting as they reached and tried as hard as they could not to lose the round...

Crack.

"Aaagh!"

Everyone jumped back as the table, which had just been cleaved in two, proceeded to crash to the ground, along with the remaining spoon.

Then they all looked at Scizor.

"… oops?"


	107. Game of Mental Endurance

A/N: Light Sorato hints.

* * *

Background: Matt has psychic abilities.

* * *

Izzy gaped at everything.

"You call this _what_?"

Sora, who was busy gathering up tennis balls from the banks of the lake, glanced back at him with a cheery smile. "It's called the 'Throw Tennis Balls at Matt Until He Falls Into the Lake' game."

Izzy looked up at Matt, who was currently balanced precariously on one rock, which was floating over the lake surface. The rock, he noticed, was glowing blue, the sign that Matt himself was using his abilities to keep it there; apparently, Matt was not using this to augment his own balance.

"I'm sorry, but I don't see how this is a game," he stated plaintively, though this did nothing to stop the fact that several 'mons and a couple humans were still throwing tennis balls at Matt's head. The tennis balls would swerve cleanly away from him and land in a tidy heap back on shore, though occasionally one would abruptly rebound off to the side or land with a splash in the lake.

Veemon turned back to him with a grin. "See, the point of the game is to break Matt's concentration, since he's trying to keep his balance while keeping the rock in the air, and without getting hit by the tennis balls. He's doing a good job, see?"

The digimon picked up another tennis ball. Izzy just groaned and looked back at the entire scene. "At least that explains why he's not wearing a shirt," he muttered. "And Matt agreed to this?"

"It was his idea," Tai replied, shrugging as he chucked a tennis ball at his friend. It swung around and landed on the bank. "Mental training or something."

Sora continued gathering up the stray tennis balls, though Izzy could have sworn she was giggling. _It's probably because this gives her a good excuse to stare at Matt shirtless_, he inwardly commented, shaking his head.

"How long is this 'game' supposed to last?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Endurance run," Nicole answered as she bounced one of the balls in her hand. "Which is why it lasts until he falls in the lake, obviously," she added with a wink. "Wanna join in?"

Izzy frowned.

"Tentomon and me are cooking tonight," he stated, shaking his head. "Besides, I think this could amount as some level of cruelty."

"Even if Matt was the one who thought of this in the first place?"

**I'm fine, really, **Izzy heard in his head. Matt sounded vaguely amused. **I probably won't make it over an hour anyway, and it's a hot day. Don't worry about it, and we'll be up at the house by dinner.**

Izzy gave a sigh. "Okay then, if you say so," he said in resignation.


	108. War of the Tennis Balls

A/N: Continuation of the last drabble. Yes, I am working on Survival.

* * *

Background: Matt and Nicole have psychic abilities.

* * *

Somehow, this 'game' Matt had thought up had become a contest of mental endurance.

"Throw faster!" TK shouted to his teammates, who were busy trying to pelt Nicole with tennis balls from afar.

They had split the entirety of the Zenkyoshi residents into two, trying to equal everything out as much as possible, such that neither side had a real advantage. There were an uneven number of humans, so Matt had managed to recruit his old bandmate Takashi, who seemed perhaps a little too eager to try and knock his friend over into the lake. His partner had taken over the job of retrieving the tennis balls.

So now they had two teams madly trying to knock over two psychics that were balanced on floating rocks over a lake. And whoever knocked over the other's psychic won.

Izzy thought over the strengths and weaknesses of the two as he chucked a tennis ball at Nicole. Matt was physically stronger and had better balance, but Nicole had a lot more experience with the use of psychic abilities. Both were stubborn and had the mental focus to concentrate on something for hours, something he assumed was from them both being musicians. So, when it came down to it, if Matt lost his mental balance first, he could at least take a few hits before falling, giving him time to recover. Nicole on the other hand...

Perhaps TK's shout had done his team good, for Nicole suddenly wavered.

"Wh-whaaaghaaaaaa - "

A tennis ball pelted her in the forehead, and she squealed as she fell over.

"Yaaaaaaagh!"

Splash.

Everyone on Matt's team burst out cheering.

"Whoo!" Matt pumped a victorious fist into the air as he floated himself back to the shore. "We won!"

Those who had been on Nicole's team just gazed back at them sadly. "Man, and I thought Nicole would definitely win," Yolei sighed, wiping her forehead.

Nicole's head burst from the lake surface, as she wiped the water from her face. "Me too," she said thoughtfully. "But you know what we still have as ammo?"

Everyone on her team looked at each other, as the same thought ran through their minds.

Matt's team realized only slightly too late what was about to occur.

"CHAAAARGE!" Davis belted as he led the team in the attack.

The resulting battle would be later known as the War of the Tennis Balls, which began with the fairly harmless yellow objects bonking off of everyone. It was only when Joe accidentally shoved Kari and Cody into the lake that it became a water fight, and even after the whole thing was over and everyone had returned to the house for food and dry clothes, Sora still claimed she never did find all of her tennis balls.


	109. I found one!

A/N: Continuation and last part. Survival is going well, the next chapter is maybe half done I think. It's gonna be a long chapter.

* * *

Gomamon popped his head out of the water. "Hey Sora, I think I found one of your tennis balls!"

She perked up a little. "Really? It's been like a month! I told you guys I never found all of those."

"Well, it's round and it's covered in green stuff now and I think there's a hole in it. Want me to grab it?"

"Uh... if only because we should throw it away..."


	110. Not her morning

A/N: Uh, so the last one wasn't the last. There's this and one more. XD

* * *

Waking up to Gomamon plopping a rotting, wet, and green tennis ball on her face was not what Mimi considered a good morning.

"Ugh! Gross!" she shrieked as she batted it away, sitting up immediately and trying to wipe the algae off her face. "This is...gah!"

Gomamon laughed as he ran as fast as he could out the door.

"Gomamon! I'll get you back for this!" she shouted out after him.


	111. Kamiya Disposal Service

A/N: Last one.

* * *

Background: Tai has fire abilities.

* * *

"Kamiya Disposal at your service, what can I do for you miss?" Tai grinned, leaning against the doorframe.

Mimi delicately gave him the offending tennis ball, wrapped tightly in several layers of paper towels. "Make sure this is gone. It's disgusting."

Tai made a face as he examined it. "Yeah, it sure is. I heard about it from Sora, isn't this back from the War of the Tennis Balls?"

"Yes. Gomamon decided to keep it and prank me."

"Well, I'll get rid of it. Trash, normal, or flashy?"

"Flashy."

Tai marched up to the window, which was a good couple stories above the ground. Then in one clean movement, he chucked the ball out into the air.

Then, as it was making a beautiful arc over the yard, he snapped his fingers.

The paper towels and the ball burst into flame, burning brightly for a few moments until there was nothing left of it except for a few pieces of blackened material floating to the ground.

Mimi applauded. "Nice, very nice. Was the finger snap necessary?"

"No. I just felt like being cool."


	112. Stop getting hurt so much!

A/N: This isn't as funny as some of the others, but I felt like writing it. Chapter 17 of Survival has now surpassed chapter 14 in length. Whoo?

* * *

Background: Kari has the ability to heal.

* * *

Kari was a used to seeing certain people awaiting treatment after battles. In particular though, there were a few that always came in with more serious wounds than anyone else.

Sometimes though, it irked her when almost everyone else came back with minor injuries, and one of these particular people had just simply been stupid.

Davis stretched his arms as he sat up. "Phew, thanks Kari," he grinned, glancing down at himself. "Man, now I need a bath."

She frowned. "Well, now that you're healed..."

She slapped him.

Davis sat back, stunned. "What was that for?"

Kari glared at him. "Stop getting hurt so much!"

"Okay," Davis replied in a tiny voice.


	113. Turn the Lights Back On

A/N: Inspired originally as a release from writing Survival, then realized the original was getting too serious and wrote another one based off the same scenario. The game they're playing is Silent Hill 2. Pyramid Head and mannequins. Anyone who's played that game knows exactly what I'm talking about. I don't own SH2!

* * *

TK frowned, sitting on the couch facing the TV with a game controller in his hands. "Davis, turn the lights back on."

Behind him, Davis crossed his arms. "Why?"

"Because I'd really rather not play a survival horror game while sitting in a dark room at night?"

Ken, who was seated on the floor, glanced backwards at the goggle-wearing boy who was smirking. "I'm of the same opinion, can you turn the lights back on?"

Nothing happened.

"Davis, seriously, turn them back on."

"Come on, you gotta' face your fears like a – AAAUGH!"

TK had just triggered a cutscene that was displaying some rather disturbing imagery, complete with the roars of monsters and the character trying to hide from the atrocity being shown on screen. Ken was staring in shock, while TK had a mixed look of squeamish horror and revulsion.

"That," TK commented, "is something I'm glad I've never seen in real life."

The lights flipped back on.

Davis nodded dumbly. "Amen to that."


	114. Chainsaw

A/N: Companion to the last one. Same game.

* * *

Ken was too busy staring at Yolei to pay any attention to what she was doing in the game. "When was this that you had a horror game phase? And why did I miss this?"

Yolei just smiled as she continued to lead the character down a pathway. "It was some time when you went back home for a while. And look, this is where you get the chainsaw."

TK burst out laughing. "You actually get a chainsaw in this game?"

"Only on a second playthrough."

"So after beating the game, you can get a chainsaw and run around killing evil creepy monsters like a homicidal maniac."

"Yup. Your character even screams when he revs it up."

"Definitely going to beat this game now."

Ken raised an eyebrow. "TK, you get scary when your violent side comes out."

"Being excited because you can kill evil scary things with a chainsaw in a game does not make me violent," TK replied defensively.


	115. Be a Man

A/N: I don't own Mulan. I swear, this song...

* * *

Background: Tai, Joe, and Sora all have fire, water, and air related abilities respectively.

* * *

Sometimes, Tai's ideas could only be described as ludicrous, yet extremely entertaining.

"You see," he was explaining to Matt and Gabumon, who were staring in disbelief. "So we've got Joe for the 'coursing river' part, Sora's got the 'great typhoon', I've obviously got 'raging fire' covered, so now we need something for 'the dark side of the moon', but none of us have any powers that match that, so I figured since Weregarurumon is supposed to be like a werewolf, he could just chill and be all like, 'It's the full moon, and I'm a werewolf bitch' or something. So that means we need you and Gabumon."

Gabumon sat gaping. Matt slapped his hand to his forehead.

"That's it. We need to get you a girlfriend."


	116. Frying Pan Fu

A/N: I thought I'd write about what was going on behind the scenes during a previous drabble, "Domestic Violence". I think it's like the sixth one...

* * *

Background: Tai has fire abilities. Nicole has psychic abilities. Nicole really likes to mess with people.

* * *

Nicole was in shock. She stared at Tai, her eyes wide open and her jaw dropped, one hand still holding onto the frying pan.

Tai realized that he had just gone slightly too far with his teasing.

"You just insulted my _mother_!"

"Uh... so I did...?"

A blue glow surrounded the quesadilla sitting in the frying pan, lifting it up and placing the food onto a nearby plate. Then Nicole lifted the frying pan into what was unmistakably an offensive sword stance.

_... oh crap._

Tai panicked and ran.

A few minutes later, they were outside in the yard, Nicole still wielding the frying pan and Tai dodging and throwing the occasional fireball at her in an attempt to stop her from coming after him. She was countering with her own abilities though, and Tai knew that unless he could grab something to protect himself, she would be on him.

For some reason, he burst out screaming at her.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was just teasing, I didn't really mean it!" he shouted as he dodged a ball of psychic energy flying at him.

And to his complete surprise, Nicole stopped.

"Finally," she grinned, placing her free hand on her hip and shaking her head. "I was waiting for you to apologize."

Tai blinked. "That's all?"

She shrugged. "Yeah. I wouldn't have chased you out here if you'd just said sorry back in the kitchen."

Tai grimaced slightly. He guessed that he had panicked without saying anything. "Well, I was thinking it," he answered defensively.

"I know. But you didn't say it out loud, did you?" Nicole pointed out with a wry smile. "That's the part I was waiting for. And besides, your reaction to my frying pan fu was hilarious. I can't believe you thought I was so much of a threat that you began throwing fire at me."

"Eh heh heh... overreaction?"

She giggled. "Very much so. Come on, let's get back to dinner."


	117. Cauterizing

A/N: This isn't a funny drabble. It's not angsty either, but it's definitely a little more on the serious side. It would take place before the Crystal War, but well after their combat training is complete (which I've decided to name that installment 'Formatting'. It comes chronologically right after Disconnect.) I'm not really sure what spurred this, but I felt like writing it, so...

* * *

Background: Tai has fire abilities. Matt has psychic ones, Sora has air, and Kari has healing.

* * *

The first time Tai had to cauterize his own wounds to keep from dying, the others took it badly.

He supposed he should have expected it. Matt and Sora had panicked when they finally reached him, and as Matt had been too worried about what a trip via teleportation might do, Sora had been the one to take charge and fly them all back to their camp. Koromon had shrieked and bounced to him immediately when the trio returned.

Kari was furious.

"Oh my god Tai, what the hell did you do to yourself?" she screamed, rushing over to where Matt and Sora had laid him carefully on a makeshift cot, her hands already surrounded by her healing light. Matt had already done the honors of removing Tai's shirt for her, and she immediately touched her palms to the long burn across her brother's stomach.

He winced, partially from her yell, and also because he knew he had a bit of explaining to do, though he was surprised by her words. Kari almost never cursed; she must have been extremely worried. He still felt very lightheaded though from having lost a fair amount of blood, but he needed to let her know that he was in no danger of dying.

"I cauterized the wound," he replied bluntly. "I would've bled to death already if I hadn't." He smiled weakly up at her, seeing her face flushed with anger. "Hey, at least I killed that evil digimon before he got here."

She shook her head madly. "Why didn't you call us for backup? We could have gotten there and helped you!"

"... I was overconfident. Sorry, Kari."

To his surprise, she sunk down with a defeated look on her face. "It's good that we got you back quickly," she said mutedly as she continued her healing work. "There shouldn't be any lasting damage from this, and because this didn't happen too long ago, there won't be any scarring."

He could feel the injury knitting itself back together, burnt tissue regenerating and vessels reconnecting. Everything in the world seemed a little bit sharper as well.

"On a kind of unrelated note," Matt piped up from where he had Tsunomon in his lap close to the campfire, "You are badass for searing your own wound shut."

Tai grinned back at him. "Thanks. It hurt like hell, by the way."

"I figured it would. Don't get into a situation where you have to do it again."

"You know just as well as I do that that probably won't be possible."

Matt glared at him. "Then let me go out scouting next time."

Kari sat back, the light fading from her hands and Tai's body. "Done."

Tai smiled gratefully at her. "Thanks Kari," he said, sitting up. "Yeah, I'll be – ugh..."

He supposed he shouldn't have exerted himself. He was still a bit dizzy, and he fell back immediately, his head hurting too much for him to stay upright. He felt the unmistakable feel of blowing air cushion his fall and gently lower him to the ground.

"Just sit back and rest Tai," Sora said softly, Yokomon beside her as well. "It'll be fine. Matt and I will take care of guard duty tonight."

He winced a little bit at the pain in his head. "Sure, sounds good."

"And if anything gets worse or you're not feeling well tomorrow, we're taking you straight back home."

That part, he was not quite as happy with, but he understood why they were concerned. Besides, he realized, it was probably the best choice.

"Okay then," he answered.

Koromon looked a little surprised. "You're not going to disagree?"

"No. I'm tired enough as is."

Kari suddenly bent down and embraced him. It took some effort for him to return the gesture, but behind the anger, he knew she had been scared at the thought that he had been hurt that badly. He never wanted to worry her so much, but as a fighter, he knew he would keep having to be directly involved in battles, and there was no way he could never come back unscathed every time.

"I'm sorry for worrying you," he told her quietly.

She tightened her arms around him. "It's okay..." she replied. "I'm just scared that I might not be nearby if this happens again."

"It'll be fine," he answered. "Don't worry. I'm okay."

He never wanted her to have to see him that badly hurt again.


	118. The Love Boat

A/N: I just had this image of Davis singing the Love Boat opening song... so here's what happened. I almost changed it to the Sukiyaki song, but decided that the lyrics were too sad considering the scene taking place. Takari!

* * *

Background: Takes place after the Crystal War. Davis is currently dating someone. TK and Kari are dating.

* * *

Davis could see them from the stairs, the couple currently kissing each other while they were curled up on the couch. Maybe years ago he might have been extremely jealous, which he now found especially funny considering that neither of them had been dating at the time, but now he just saw this as a perfect opportunity to make fun of them.

So he opened his mouth and began to croon a song down to them.

"The love boat," he began, grinning when he saw both people freeze and slowly turn in his direction. "Soon will be making another run. The love boat promises something for everyone..."

"Davis, what are you doing?" Kari asked amusedly.

He waved at them. "Singing a song about the love boat," he replied with a smile.

TK chuckled a little. "Would you like me to do the same when your girlfriend visits next time?"

Davis huffed at them. "No thank you. Although..." he smiled deviously. "I suppose having live music during a date might be pretty nice."

"No."

"Damn. Okay, I'll leave you two alone now."

The pair sighed as Davis went back up the stairs, disappearing out of sight. Kari lay her head TK's chest, closing her eyes as they took in each other's warmth.

A moment later, they heard someone singing from the stairs.

"Love… exciting and new…"

"Davis, go away!"


	119. Noooooooo!

A/N: Inspired by nothing except maybe bad traffic while running late. I have a feeling that this latest chapter of Survival will be the longest one.

* * *

Cody had no idea what to think about this latest development. All he knew was that he had been innocently slicing an apple when Nicole walked into the kitchen, and her reaction was probably the last thing he expected.

She stared at the partially cut apple in absolute horror.

"Nooooooooooo!" she wailed in a deep, melodramatic voice, her arms spread in an expression of grief.

Cody stared back at her.

He cut another slice.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

_What the…?_

Fortunately for him, Matt was right behind her. He rolled his eyes and proceeded to knock her into the wall.

Bang.

"Ow."

"She's just messing with you," he stated clearly, shaking his head.


	120. You fail

A/N: Follow up to "The Love Boat", only TK has a slight bit of trouble. Davis' girlfriend does have a name, but since I'm actually writing up the Zenkyoshi stuff, I chose to keep her unnamed in this.

* * *

Davis had half expected TK to carry out his offer of singing when his girlfriend came to visit. So when the two of them were enjoying some hot cocoa together on the porch one evening, and he heard his friend's baritone voice singing from the doorway, he just grinned.

"The love boat... soon will be making another run… the love boat… uh… I forget the rest of the words to this song…"

Davis and the girl he had his arm around just laughed. "You fail," he commented towards TK, who shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well, then I guess I won't give you this bag of marshmallows that I brought with me," he replied with a smile, dangling the package from his hand.

"Gimme."

TK laughed and tossed Davis the bag.


	121. Capture the Flag

A/N: Probably one of the most epic games of Capture the Flag around... Rules are the same as normal Capture the Flag, but players may use any tactics they like, as long as no one gets hurt. This includes the use of attacks and abilities. Inspired loosely by actual games of Capture the Flag.

* * *

Background: Cody has abilities involving earth. Joe has abilities with water. Digigears act as both radio and tracking devices, which everyone wears for both communication and safety reasons. Headsets are waterproof. Mimi dyed her hair pink again.

* * *

"I've got it, I've got it!"

"Go! Run!"

"Cover me!"

"Backup, we need backup here!"

"Shoot, got someone on me, I'm heading to the lake!"

"I'll help you there!"

Joe sprinted as fast as he could towards the lake, glancing about wildly for any sign of Mimi. He could still hear the yells in his headset, shouts for help or to aid chasing someone in their territory, but he was the best one suited for getting Mimi to safety. He had already yelled his reply, and was watching his digivice closely to see where she would come out into the open.

Then he saw a flurry of leaves and the sight of dyed pink hair.

"Mimi!" he shouted, waving as he jumped towards her, already preparing to use his abilities to haul her over towards him.

She waved back, her precious cargo grasped tightly in her hands, as she ran for the bank and was about to dive into the water –

Walls of sand and rock spiked up from the ground, forcing Mimi to stop. In desperation, she tried to vault up over them as they rose, but she was not fast enough; the top of the walls came too high above her head, and within moments she was trapped in a cage of, essentially, dirt.

"I caught you!" Joe heard Cody crow in victory from far off in the distance.

His headset buzzed to life. "Cody got me," Mimi reported sadly.

"No worries, we'll get someone to lead a rescue," Matt's voice came in. "Good job Mimi, this is the closest we've come to winning the game all day."

"Thanks. Sorry, gotta' turn off the headset now 'til one of you guys comes to save me and Izzy."

He heard a click, signaling that Mimi had disconnected from communication. Looking out at the bank again, he could see the walls of Cody's trap return to mounds of earth, while Mimi followed the boy back to where he assumed the other team's jail was.

"The rest of you get back safely?" Matt asked.

"I'm safe."

"Me too."

"I got back."

"I'm hiding out... I think Agumon's tracking me..."

Then Gatomon's voice crackled over the line. "Matt! Group of six heading in your direction! TK and mons!"

"Great, this'll be fun. Veemon, Raichu, Scizor, you're on rescue. Davis, Kari, give me some backup. Everyone else, keep watch!"

Joe knelt down to the ground, hearing the replies of everyone while he sat in wait. He could still see the moving digivices, and a quick check at the Digigear was enough to tell him of the many others were nearby, including a group that was inching slightly close to the border between their territory and his team's...

_Perfect. They're close to the water._

He smiled, knowing that though this group knew his location, he had the advantage of his element and a few backups if he needed help. In fact, if he could just sneak his way a little closer, he might be able to entrap a good number of them... or at least make sure they were unable to defend their side.

Concentrating, he focused the water from the lake and glanced down at the Digigear and digivice, which told him there were two humans in this group.

"Gatomon, there's a group close to me, southeast side of the lake. Any type weaknesses I need to be careful of?" he spoke into the headset.

There was a pause, with the sound of someone jumping through trees and carefully gripping onto branches and trunks.

"No, you're safe. Do your thing."

"Thanks. Gomamon, get ready."

He heard an explosion of sound, which he assumed meant that Matt had finally had his run-in with the group coming towards him, and hoped Davis and Kari could help keep everyone off him while he continued protecting their flag.

Joe readied himself, focusing on the water again and the group he knew was nearby. From the looks of it, they were fanning out as though preparing to rush around him so he wouldn't be able to go after them all... but that would be unnecessary.

He sent the water pouring over the entire area in a giant flow to pull the six opponents straight into the lake.

As he heard the shouts of the group as they ended up in a body of water – the part of it that was still on his team's side – he inwardly had to grin to himself.

_Capture the Flag is so much more fun this way_, he thought as he saw Gomamon gleefully swim around tagging the entire group out.


	122. Naaaananananana

A/N: I really don't have any explanation for this. Except that I hope whoever reads this knows exactly what game is being described.

* * *

Sora glanced across the table at Tai and a few of the others, who were staring at their food in a strange manner rather than eating it.

"Anything wrong?"

Tai just continued staring.

"I've got this weird urge to roll everything up into a ball," he admitted, poking one of the eggplant chunks on his plate.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Everything?"

"Everything. Including the plates, and the tableware, and the table, and the chairs, and the counter…"

TK also kept gazing at everything on the table. "Yeah. I keep seeing this giant ball of stuff keep getting bigger and bigger..."

Sora sighed, knowing that this group had spent half the day in one of the media rooms playing some video game. "Let me guess. That new game you guys got?"

Everyone in that group nodded.

"We broke it," Davis stated. "Yes, we were naughty. Completely naughty. So, so very sorry."

"We are moved to tears by the size of this thing," Ken intoned.

"I feel it. I feel the Cosmos," Veemon bobbed his head as he spoke.

Matt, Yolei, Nicole, Pikachu, and Izzy all looked at each other and sang in unison.

"Naaaaaaa-na-na-na-na-naa-naa-naa-n'na-na-nana-naaa…"


	123. Spawn are Slime Molds

A/N: This drabble will make absolutely no sense unless one has read the later chapters of Survival of Hope. This is what happens when I'm a Biology nerd. For those who haven't read it - the Spawn are the main 'monster' enemies that everyone's running around fighting.

* * *

Background: Despite living in another world, everyone still has to finish the normal school curriculum. Poor kids. Takes place towards the beginning of the stay in the Digiworld.

* * *

TK dropped his pencil and stared at the textbook, rereading the line over and over.

_That's... wow, that's..._

"Kari, the Spawn are slime molds," he spoke to her across the table, where she was also poring over a passage in a textbook.

She glanced up from her work, extremely confused. "What?"

TK decided to read the line out loud.

"Cellular slime molds such as _Acrasiomycota_ live most of their lives independently as single-celled protists. However, if conditions are unfavorable, they can group together into an amoeboid mass that acts like a single organism."

Kari burst out laughing as TK looked up from the page. "See?" he pointed out, smiling.

"They're so threatening," she exclaimed, holding her head. "The Spawn, beings of the darkness from the Dark Ocean, as slime molds. That's disgusting."

"I know, right?"


	124. Bubbles

A/N: I expect every American reader to know where this is coming from. Regarding Survival... well, I'm aiming for end of the month, given the many things that must be done for it now.

* * *

Going out of the Digiworld to return home, even if only for a couple hours to eat dinner with family, still meant that it was a few days before anyone saw the person again. And for any of the humans, who were still required to take standardized tests despite not actively attending school, it meant they missed those days while they were off slaving over sheets of paper.

Mimi had returned quietly after taking one of these tests, such that the only thing that showed she was back was her digivice and Digigear signal. However, for those who were in the kitchen at the time, her entrance was a little bit more on the surreal side.

"Not good?" Izzy asked as she staggered in, with a mixture of irritation and relief across her face.

She looked at him in a defeated manner.

"Bubbles," she stated.

Izzy blinked. "What?"

"Bubbles."

With that, she promptly opened the fridge, grabbed a pint of ice cream and a spoon, and proceeded to her room, with everyone gazing after her in concern.


	125. Stuck in the Hospital Bay

A/N: My sympathies go with Matt and Sora. :/

* * *

Background: Matt has psychic abilities. Kari can heal with hers. Zenkyoshi also has a hospital bay attached to the main house that is used for injured or sick digimon as well as humans, usually manned by Joe.

* * *

"Negative one thousand twenty six bottles of beer on the wall, negative one thousand twenty six bottles of beer - "

"Tai. Shut up. Please."

"Take one down, pass it around, negative one thousand twenty seven bottles of beer on the wall!"

"Seriously. We're like about ready to hit you."

"Negative one thousand twenty seven bottles of beer on the wall - "

Matt summoned a foam battle axe to his hand and pulling himself out of the bed, promptly whacked Tai with it.

"And if you keep singing, next time it'll be a bucket of water," he snapped as the axe bounced off, glaring at the other boy who only grinned innocently at him.

"Aww, don't exert yourself," Tai tsk-ed at him, waving a finger in his direction. Though to his credit, he was about as badly beaten as Matt was, and he had no desire to even try getting up. He was surprised that his two sick-mates had even put up with his singing for so long.

Matt huffed and plopped down into the bed again. "Well, you're the one who made me get up," he shot back.

"Yeah, and if Matt hadn't done it, then I would," Sora added in her own comment, sitting up in her bed a little.

Tai just groaned and stared at the ceiling. "It's so boring here though," he whined. "I hate it when we have to stay in the hospital bay. I wish Kari was back already, then she could heal us and we'd be out."

"I don't like being stuck here either," Sora sighed, gazing directly at Tai. "But you don't have to make it any worse by singing that song repeatedly!"


	126. Braid whip

"I need a haircut."

Davis and Yolei, the former of which was busy brushing his teeth, both turned and glanced at their friend staring at himself in the mirror. He examined a few strands of indigo hair between his fingers, frowning as he shook his head back and forth in a lion-like manner.

"You think so?" Yolei commented, groping for the towel on the counter beside her so she could dry her face.

Ken nodded, glaring at his reflection. "It's too long," he stated, pulling at his bangs.

Davis glanced over as he set his toothbrush off to the side. "You mean you're not planning to grow it out like Joe did?"

Ken sighed. "No. And quite frankly, it's getting to the point where I have to pull my hair out of my eyes to see anything."

"Awkward stage, isn't it?" Yolei smiled back at him. She pulled a couple stray hairs away from her face, flipping her braid a bit as she did so.

Davis suddenly grinned playfully. "Man, that's too bad. If you cut your hair, you can't use it in a fight like the girls can."

Both Ken and Yolei raised their eyebrows. "Since when do I use my hair in fighting?" Yolei asked curiously.

Davis turned to both of them, waving his arms wildly as he tried to explain. "Well, when you guys have longer hair, and you keep it tied back, it kind turns into a tail-like thing, you know? And you can use that as a sort of whip, I know I saw Mimi accidentally hit Izzy once like that when they were sparring, so it becomes like another weapon if you use it right!"

The two others just gazed at him in disbelief. Then Yolei smiled mischievously, crossing her arms. "Oh, so you mean like this?"

She stepped close to him and swung her head quickly, letting her braid whip out in an arc. To Davis' credit, he let it hit him.

"Yeah, exactly," he said earnestly as Yolei crossed her arms.

She swung her head again.

And again.

Davis tried to swat the hair away as Ken tried hard not to laugh.

"Oi, cut it out!"


	127. Censorship

A/N: Takes place towards the beginning of the stay in the Digiworld. Like, very close to the beginning. Sorato implied.

* * *

Davis wrinkled his nose, though everyone's attention was on the screen in front of him and no one noticed. "What kind of movie is this? The action scenes suck."

"We're barely half an hour in, it probably gets better," Yolei answered, gazing at the images before them.

As almost everyone had decided to come watch the movie, they had opted to show it in one of the media rooms and moved all the couches out of the way, leaving most people lounging around on the floor. It worked in that everyone was fairly comfortable (with the addition of pillows and blankets, making it more like a sleepover party), and no one really had to worry about being unable to see the screen.

"Oh look, they're kissing," Joe commented, as he lay on his stomach watching the screen, Gomamon perched on his back.

"Loudly," Nicole added, wincing.

Matt raised an eyebrow at her. She had always been a little squeamish when it came to anything romantically intimate, which occasionally annoyed both him and Sora. "There's nothing wrong with it," he said pointedly. "Though it is kinda early... wait a minute..."

"Why is the girl taking off her shirt?" Patamon asked innocently.

Most of the older members of the group knew exactly what was about to occur onscreen.

"Protect the children!" Tai bellowed.

Those who were much younger than the others there, particularly Cody, the Scyzards and even some of the digimon, suddenly found themselves being smothered, their eyes and ears being covered by several hands as everyone shrieked and yelled in the confusion, the noise drowning out everything coming out from the film.

"Guys, get off me!" Cody shouted in protest.


	128. Banana Jalapeno Cream Pie

A/N: The sad thing about this is that Nicole is being serious. Blame her little genetic mutation. Maybe Tai's mom secretly has it too. It seems like these two would get along. o.O

* * *

Matt had called all the humans at Zenkyoshi over to the kitchen for something that he had pronounced was likely one of his best achievements. Curious about it, they had heeded the call and now stood in a circle around the end of the table.

"So, what's this achievement?" Sora asked amusedly.

Matt smiled at them and held out his arms in a presenting manner. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Nicole and her actually edible banana cream pie."

He was met with a lot of blank stares, even as Nicole very calmly placed said pie on the table.

"Are you sure about that?" Davis asked, peering carefully at innocent looking food.

Matt nodded affirmatively. "Considering I watched over her shoulder the entire time and tried a bit of it earlier, yes."

Izzy poked the pie cautiously. "Well, it doesn't seem horribly made this time…"

Nicole frowned at that statement. "Hey, they're not horribly made. Humans just don't like my cooking, that's all."

Several people deigned to not comment on how she had once insisted that they would become accustomed to the food she made. Maybe all the non-humans liked the odd touches, but to the regular person, it was just disgusting.

Tai had cut himself a small slice, apparently braver than the others in trying out the so called edible pie. Everyone watched closely as he carefully took a piece off with his fork and placed it in his mouth...

"Hey, it's actually pretty good," he said lightly as he swallowed.

"Yes!" Nicole cheered, throwing both arms into the air.

Matt laughed as the others quickly began to help themselves to the pie. "See, I told you it would be fine without all that weird stuff you put in," he lightly punched her in the arm.

"It's not weird stuff to me," she smiled weakly. "It's all intuitive…"

Joe glanced at her with an eyebrow raised. "What would you put in it if Matt hadn't been watching?"

Nicole frowned. "Well, I would have added some jalapenos to the bananas…"

Several people at the table snorted.

"But then it's a banana jalapeno cream pie," Mimi pointed out cheekily.

"Not if you only put some diced bits in," Nicole continued, apparently excited by the pie that would have been. "Then I would have added chili powder into the filling and lightened up on the sugar, used raspberry extract instead of vanilla, put soy sauce in the crust, and garnished it with fried eggplant."

Everyone stopped completely and turned to stare at her in disbelief. Matt smacked his forehead.

"…ew…" Ken looked down at his plate.

"That would destroy a perfectly good pie…" Cody poked the slice he had, looking a bit disturbed.

Kari was gazing into the air, as though trying to picture exactly how a pie with those additions would work. "Well…" she began slowly, "The raspberry probably wouldn't be too bad, but everything else isn't… quite so much."

Nicole sighed. "The pie is so bland as it is though. My version sounded so good too…"

"No it doesn't," Yolei muttered under her breath.

From her slightly saddened facial expression, it was fairly obvious that Nicole had heard Yolei's comment, but TK quickly stood and gathered everyone's attention by waving his arms and knocking over his chair. "Well, as the pie is now, it's really pretty good!" he exclaimed. "So congratulations to Nicole for baking something all the humans like! And to Matt for coaching her. Now just cook things that are edible," he added in her direction.

Nicole frowned. "But I do."

Everyone groaned.


	129. What have I started?

A/N: This is a release from writing Survival. It also contains some spoilers for Survival's sequel. Which is chronologically after the Crystal War. So this drabble takes place after both of those...

* * *

Izzy had an oddly tranquil, but curious look on his face as he sat in the landing bay, back to the wall as he gazed at the other two relaxing there with him.

"I wonder…" he spoke, "what it would have been like if we went through our first adventure with the skills and training we have now?"

Tai raised an eyebrow and snorted. "We would have pwned everything. End of story."

Matt looked at him sharply. "No we wouldn't," he argued. "Not the Dark Masters or Apocalymon at least."

"Come on, every single digimon from our original team of eight can hit Mega now," Tai shot back. "Not to mention our crest powers and fighting experience. Hell, think about what TK and Kari just did!"

"It didn't exactly end well for TK. Something that is going to scare me for the rest of my life thinking about it. It's a miracle our siblings are okay."

"The point is, we're way stronger now. I just think it would be funny for Kari to walk up to Myotismon and beat the shit out of him."

"We are not about to start arguing over how we'd do battling our past enemies."

"Think about it though, it'd be a lot easier compared to back then. Hey Izzy, is it possible to program in battles with our past enemies on the SIM machine?"

Izzy banged his head backwards against the wall.

_What have I started?_


	130. Bagpipes?

Davis stared at the object that Ken had placed carefully on his desk.

"Dude, are those bagpipes?" he asked, dumbfounded.

Ken didn't even turn around and he set his bag down by his bed. "Yes. Specifically, uilleann pipes."

Davis just stared at the instrument. "Whatever they're called. _Why_ do you have uilleann pipes?"

Ken grimaced helplessly at Davis' raised eyebrows.

"Okay, so my uncle came to visit when I went home, and he'd just been on vacation to Ireland, of all places, and for some reason he thought that it'd be a good gift. I didn't want to just leave it home," he added, seeing Davis still gazing in disbelief, "It was probably quite expensive, and I thought maybe one of the musicians in this place might enjoy playing it."

Wormmon, who was sitting on the bed, glanced over at the violin case sitting in the corner of the room. "You'd count as a musician," he pointed out.

"No I don't. I'm horrible at it."

Davis rolled his eyes. He was used to this argument, and was a little tired of trying to convince his friend that he was actually quite musical and not tone-deaf as he seemed to insist.

"Well anyway, since you have yule-thingy pipes, maybe you should learn it," he suggested.

The three looked back at the instrument sitting on the table.

"… maybe," Ken sighed, as he went to unpack.


	131. Board Breaking

A/N: Beginning of a short group of drabbles based on random martial arts mishaps. I kind of wish there was a genre setting for 'slice of life', considering I feel like most of these drabbles would fit in perfectly...

* * *

Background: Takes place when everyone is towards the beginning of learning combat.

* * *

Mimi gulped as she gazed forward. She was a little nervous; after all, it was the first time she was going to try breaking using a jumping kick. "You really think I can do this?" she asked out loud.

"You can do it!" Palmon's voice cheered from the crowd of humans who had already finished and the digimon who had come to watch.

Mimi just grimaced and looked ahead again, staring at the Tai, holding the two boards towards her in preparation.

"Just go for it," he nodded encouragingly.

She took a deep breath, narrowing her eyes as she focused on her target. _Middle… aim towards the middle… _

Then she shouted and launched herself into the air, twisting her body slightly as she chambered her leg and kicked.

Smack.

"AGH!"

Tai dropped the boards, holding the fingers of his left hand and letting loose a couple curses. Mimi, who had landed without trouble, shrieked out an apology.

"I'm so sorry Tai! I was too low, are you okay?"

Tai smiled slightly through gritted teeth. "Yeah, just... you know, you would have broken those boards if you'd hit the middle..."

Kari was already up and rushing over to heal Tai's injury, while the others watching just winced a bit.

"So you know how I was thinking we should get a board holder?" she said as her light shone around her brother's hand. "I'm starting to think that might be a good idea."


	132. Board Holder

A/N: Follow-up to the last drabble. The board holder described here is the kind made from hardwood and mounted on the wall.

* * *

Background: Everyone is learning combat.

* * *

Sora glared at the boards staring her straight in the face.

_I can break these. Just need to pivot more and angle my hips and I should get this._

With one burst of speed, she gave a shout as she twisted and kicked.

She missed and hit the board holder.

Several eyes widened as Sora hopped on one foot, quickly grabbing onto the wall and turning her foot over to examine it.

"You okay Sora?" TK asked in concern.

She nodded weakly. "Yeah… but I think I'm done with board breaking today…"


	133. Kicking Elbows

A/N: Anyone who has kicked an elbow knows that it really hurts.

* * *

Punch, block, strike, dodge, kick, retreat, advance. It was like a game of tag, only with hands and feet; yet even though neither of the two combatants were actually trying to hurt one another, it did not stop them from placing a great deal of power into every attack.

Izzy was busy watching them, as he sat out being the only person without a sparring partner until they switched. He was taking the time to catch his breath, but it meant he could watch the other pairs as they fought.

The couple in particular, Joe and TK, seemed to be running all over the floor as TK attacked, being a significantly more aggressive fighter than Joe, from what it looked like. Joe on the other hand was blocking all of these fairly easily, occasionally dodging or sneaking in an attack of his own.

Then, in one movement, Joe lifted his leg to kick, just as TK moved in one direction and came in to attack –

Joe's pained yell echoed throughout the room.

TK stopped immediately and grabbed Joe's shoulder, as the older boy stood with all his weight on one foot, wincing at the other.

"Joe! Your foot, what happened?" TK asked as he helped him over to the wall. "It was my elbow, wasn't it?"

Joe winced, limping as he relied on TK for support. "Yeah… it was. It went right between the first and second metatarsals. I kicked hard too. Oh pain…"


	134. Annoyed

A/N: So I finally watched Akira... the 2001 dub which featured Joshua Seth, aka Tai, as Tetsuo. And Michael Lindsay, or Joe, as Yamagata. Very interesting. But really weirdly, it gave me an idea for this scene...

* * *

Background: Matt had psychic abilities.

* * *

Matt was annoyed.

They had somehow ended up getting caught in a conflict between two groups of digimon, one acting from the surrounding forest and the other from a well defended fortress. Now they were stuck in said fortress along with all those in it, with the other side leading a siege on the entire place. In his opinion, neither side of the conflict was correct and they were fighting each other for no good reason.

Tai was trying to figure out how to mediate between the two without getting instantly killed. He had succeeded in getting the fortress group to at least agree to talks. Unfortunately, he couldn't take two steps outside before being attacked.

Matt on the other hand, decided that he had had enough of the whole matter.

Tai dropped his mouth when he heard what Matt was planning to do.

"Are you serious?" he gaped. "And I thought I was the one who came up with stupid ideas!"

"You are," Matt commented wryly as he slung an object over his shoulder. "You're just never serious about them."

Tai bit his lip as he watched his friend head towards the outside wall. "You sure you'll be all right?"

"The entire other side is made up of Rookie and Champion levels. I'll be fine."

And with that, Matt opened the door to the wall battlement.

Things were flying at him, but he didn't particularly care. He already had his shields up; none of the attacks coming at him were strong enough to penetrate them, and he was very confident in his ability to keep it up for a fairly long period of time.

He strode in a leisurely fashion down the walkway, glancing down over the wall towards the ground and the large number of fairly angry looking digimon. _Hmm, will that work, or that... aha, there's a good spot._

In one quick movement, he vaulted over the side of the fortress wall and floated himself down.

The digimon had not decreased their rate of fire, and if anything they looked… scared, to Matt's surprise. He gently landed, glancing about at all of them, trying to ignore the fireballs and various beams of energy being aimed at his head. His shield was doing all the work for him, diverting everything away harmlessly.

Then, pretending that it was perfectly normal, he grabbed the guitar off his back and slung the strap around his shoulder, retrieving the pick that he had woven between the strings.

_Hmm, what's a good song…guess I can do one of the old band songs, good for nostalgia._

"You got a boy, you got a girl, sitting underneath the tree…"

The digimon were clearly not happy with this.

_Wow, they really don't like this huh,_ he inwardly commented as something released what seemed like machinegun fire on his shield. _Well, too bad for them._

He was slightly pleased to see that a fair number of the digimon looked rather confused though, and had stopped attacking. He wondered what the group inside the fortress was thinking.

_Probably confused too and now pestering Tai and Gabumon. I dunno. I'm just so damn annoyed by this whole thing._

Something that looked like a laser beam hit his shield and bounced away. Matt just continued the song, pretending that nothing out of the ordinary had happened and that it was everyday life that essentially a small army was shooting at you.

"Will you stop playing that thing and fight us?"

Matt ignored it and blissfully kept singing.

"I turn around, I can see what's behind me…"

"Gaaaaah! Are you even listening to me?"

_Not really._


	135. I am not wearing underwear today

A/N: Return of Truth or Dare.

* * *

Sora shook her head.

"That's it?" she stated with a teasing smile.

Kari shrugged kindly. "I thought I would be nice. I could have made you scream it into our Digigears set to everyone."

Sora frowned at that. "But we've got people out on missions, that'd be breaking our Truth or Dare rules."

"True."

"Oh, quit stalling and do it already," Izzy commented, pointing towards the door.

Sora sighed and stood, marching proudly away from the small group of humans and 'mons and letting herself outside into the sunshine.

Then she reared back her head, took a deep breath, and belted.

"I AM NOT WEARING UNDERWEAR TODAAAAY!"

She returned inside to a mass of giggles.

"Oh come on," she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "We've been living together here for how long? And besides, the 'mons _never_ wear underwear. Or clothes for that matter."


	136. How do you know?

A/N: Follow-up to the last drabble. Tai has a dirty mind. Sorato, with the implication that Tai has completely gotten over his attraction to Sora.

* * *

Background: Matt has psychic abilities.

* * *

"I AM NOT WEARING UNDERWEAR TODAAAAY!"

Sora's voice echoed across the yard.

Two boys sitting in a room upstairs with the window open heard it quite clearly.

Tai blinked, then turned purposefully towards Matt. "Is she?"

"I'm not answering that question. And you keep playing a B in your riff, it's an alternating A and G."

Tai fingered the change on his guitar, but raised an eyebrow back at his friend. "Not answering, eh? Seems to me like someone's defensive," he added with a smirk.

Matt had to roll his eyes. "Fine. Like all normal people, yes, she is wearing underwear."

Tai grinned mischievously. "And how do you know that? Used your psychic sensing powers?"

Matt stared at him open-mouthed.

"Wh – no! I don't use my crest power for anything like that!"

"Oh, so how do you know then?"

"Are you actually _trying_ to get me to admit that I saw her in her underwear?"

"Hey, I just wanna' make sure the two of you are in a happy, healthy relationship."

Matt glanced at him suspiciously.

"… you have a dirty mind, you know that?"

"Yup."

They paused, Tai still grinning like a maniac. Matt just sighed and glanced down at the sheet of music written out before him, his mind suddenly far away from any further attempts to solidify a good bass line.

"We sparred this morning. She thought it'd be funny to wear a skirt. Yes, it was awkward."

Tai looked slightly disappointed. "That's it?"

"… we did make out afterwards."

"Ooooooo."

"Can I hit you now?"


	137. Deletion

A/N: This is a fairly serious scene, that would take place after the Crystal War. I kind of... I guess, felt a need to write it. Spoilers for that story, whenever I get around to writing it.

* * *

Lightning crackled from his fingertips, down his blade and out into an arc before him. He roared out in fury at the being before him as he launched bolt after bolt, occasionally taking the time to throw himself at the figure to take a physical swipe himself. Even though the electricity he commanded was far more powerful, it still felt extremely satisfying to slice into the flesh of this one being.

He dodged the attacks that came at him, and weathered those that were weaker and he knew he could withstand. He honestly didn't care how injured he became, and kept moving forward for it. Nothing hurt anyway, not as it would have had this battle taken place during the war. And compared to what pain he _had _felt…

He wished this digimon were still alive so that this battle could be real, not merely a data projection. He wanted revenge for everything, for what this being had done, for all the suffering caused, the agony that still panged within him every time he looked at his partner.

So much anger and rage, mixed with the sorrow and grief. Emotions from those moments kept bubbling within him, hot as they manifested into the lightning that escaped from him. He shouted as his blade slashed out again and again, the room practically exploding as his own fury became a crackling whirlwind of energy. He could hear the last cry of the digimon.

He felt no pity.

"And you can burn in hell, you bastard!" he screamed.

The room faded. Everything became white, the heat from the air cooling as his own senses registered. He was not standing, no, he was sitting, his eyes were closed, he could feel the dots on his head where electrodes connected his consciousness to the machine at the forefront of the room.

He felt oddly fulfilled, yet shaken by what had come through him.

"… Davis, you're done. You finished him."

He opened his eyes and saw Tai standing there, gazing sadly. He tried to answer, but found to his surprise that nothing came out but a choked sob, as the images rose in his mind again, images that he had tried so hard to forget but knew he never would.

"I still wish it was the real thing," he barely whispered. "But... you guys were right. It's a good thing I wasn't in the battle that actually killed him…"

Tai placed his hands on his shoulders. "It's over though. You feel better now?"

Davis took a long breath. "Yeah. I do."

Nicole was sitting in a nearby chair, staring at the screen which was now blank. She looked over at him, her face slightly pale but otherwise impassive.

"So you're done with it," she said in an oddly controlled voice. "What do you want to do with the SIM data now?"

Davis knew exactly what he wanted.

"Delete it," he stated. "I never want to see that thing again. But only after Veemon gets a chance at him too."


	138. Good Job

A/N: Just... funny moments in waking people up.

* * *

TK was fairly surprised as he sat down at the table early that morning, munching numbly on a piece of toast while he waited for the coffee maker to finish. From the looks of it, despite having said he'd needed to wake up a little earlier to do a couple things, there was no sign of Matt having already been downstairs.

TK had also asked Matt to make sure he was awake that morning, since he did have a habit of sleeping through his alarm. This was something that Matt had also failed to do, and TK had somehow managed to drag himself out of bed regardless, with a little help from Patamon.

Thinking about it... Gabumon was currently visiting some friends and staying over at a nearby village, which meant there was no one else in Matt's room to hear the alarm...

Stuffing the rest of the toast in his mouth, TK got up and left the kitchen, heading straight for the stairs.

He didn't even bother to knock when he got to his brother's room.

"Matt?"

The boy in question didn't even answer, still curled up under his sheets from the looks of it. TK chuckled and reached for the light switch.

Matt sat up immediately, throwing the blanket off of himself. "I'm up, I'm up," he exclaimed hoarsely, his eyes half open as he flailed his arms wildly in an attempt to look awake. He mostly succeeded in falling over and slamming his hand into his bed's headboard.

They both paused for a moment as Matt slowly turned his head to look at his hand, wincing.

TK clapped. "Good job. Weren't you supposed to be the one waking me up?"

Matt just gazed at him blearily. "Yeah, um... that kind of didn't happen."

He smiled. "So I noticed. Coffee's almost ready, and we need to leave in about twenty minutes."

Matt groaned and buried his head into his pillow. "Okay... give me five minutes to... wake up…"

"Just don't fall asleep again," TK stated, catching a glimpse of his brother's alarm clock sitting on the floor. _Well, that explains that._


	139. Reason for Driving Lessons

A/N: Takes place after the Crystal War. Nicole already had her driver's permit before they left for Zenkyoshi.

* * *

"Mimi, up. I'm teaching you how to drive."

Mimi, who had been sitting at the kitchen table looking at pictures of Indian food, looked up curiously.

"You're – why?" she blurted, not really sure exactly what the reason for this was.

Nicole sighed, rubbing her head.

"Because I'm tired of being the only person around here who uses cars for things other than speeding bombs of terror."

That did make sense. Even so, it wasn't as though there were many roads in the Digiworld, and it was much more convenient hanging onto a digimon for transportation as opposed to trying to drive. That coupled with the recent war, and everyone had quickly come to a consensus that especially when it came to fighting digimon, cars were much better used as weapons.

Mimi however also knew of another reason Nicole was so forward about this. She put down the book with a wry smile, gazing back at the other girl. "You mean, you don't want to be the only person who knows how to drive when a car is the only option we have for escape?"

Nicole visibly grimaced, and Mimi knew she had hit it.

"Yeah. That too," she admitted, sighing. "Seriously, not a great moment for me right there. And really, how in the hell did Tai know how to hotwire stuff when he's never driven before, and then he goes off and commandeers a freaking motorcycle, I don't get it," she grumbled, more to herself than anything.


	140. Going Home

A/N: This kind of just... came out. Takes place right close to the end of the stay in the Digiworld. I apologize if it's a bit rambling.

* * *

How many years had it been?

She didn't remember any more. Everything seemed so long ago now, the first adventures, their battles, the days when they fought against the odds and somehow succeeded, whether by a miracle or through the powers given to them by the Digiworld.

So many things were different now. Their battles were still fierce, yes, but their years of preparation and training had given them the ability to fight off those that threatened the safety of both worlds. They had survived, through battles, crises, war, strife; they had witnessed friends die, seen others marry, and watched as families began, and yet somehow they were still outside of it, strangers to their own home world.

She felt so old.

That was not what her mother would say, of course. Her mother would laugh, talk about how her adorable little girl had grown into such a mature young woman filled with confidence, ready to take on the world and live.

But the problem was, she _had _lived. Maybe it was not the life anyone would have expected, but it was still a life.

Her second family had been the only constant, those who had once, so long ago, agreed to accompany her brother and live in the Digiworld for the sake of protecting it while its existence and turning recovered. There had been so many times when one person or another vanished, or was thought to have died, but somehow they had made it. It was the end, finally.

Maybe now that they could finally pursue what they wished. Davis could finally open that noodle cart, Sora could use her designs for less combat-oriented functions, Tai could finally propose, maybe Ken and Yolei could finally get married…

They had a whole new life ahead, what felt like a final chapter to all of them. They wanted peace, the chance to return to the world they had been born in, to settle down, get jobs, marry, raise children. After all the fighting, it was what they wanted.

She was ready to go home.


	141. Fight me already, dangit

A/N: Rather opposite from the last drabble. Takes place towards the beginning of the stay in the Digiworld, during combat training.

* * *

Background: Joe has abilities with water and fights with a spear.

* * *

Joe was panicking.

"Guys, no... just, please no..." he begged as the digimon came closer. "I'm not ready for this yet!"

The others just gazed at him with a mixture of encouragement and exasperation.

"Come on Joe, you can do this," Davis called from the crowd.

Joe shook his head wildly, clutching his spear as though it were a lifeline. "No! Seriously, I'm not ready to do this yet!"

At that, Flamedramon marched straight up, glaring at the boy straight in the eye.

"Joe," the digimon began. "You've sparred with Tai. You've sparred him while both of you were using your crest powers. You can handle this. You've been training so you can fight off enemy digimon."

Joe gazed up helplessly.

Flamedramon roared. "Just fight with me already, dangit! Flame Fist!"

"AAAAAAHH!"

The others watched as Flamedramon began attacking mercilessly while Joe ran around, dodged, and otherwise spent his time trying to outrun and evade the digimon trying to make him fight.

"Well, that's one way to get him to do this," Sora commented with a frown. She quickly applauded when Joe finally spun around using his spear as an axis for balance, and shot a blast of water at Flamedramon's face. "There we go Joe, that's how you do it!"


	142. Drink Your Tea

A/N: Yuki is one of the team leaders from Disconnect. She hasn't been actually introduced yet, but basically she was in the computer club with Izzy and got on his nerves. Oh yes, and Final Fantasy VII reference. I don't own it!

* * *

Izzy walked into the kitchen, feeling miserable and in need of cold medicine, when he saw who was waiting for him.

He stopped in his tracks immediately.

"What are you doing here?" he asked suspiciously.

Yuki stared back at him.

"I came to visit. I also heard you were sick, so I made you some tea," she answered, shrugging.

Hearing that she had come to visit was nothing out of the ordinary. Digidestined did it all the time, treating Zenkyoshi as a sort of base for them to come to and regroup when not on patrols, or just a good place to see what they had missed. What made him blink though was the fact that of all the things she had ever done to him in the past, making tea was not one of them.

"Um, thank you for the effort, but I don't really want tea right now," he answered, with a sigh. He grimaced as he felt his sinus induced headache cause the forefront of his head to throb.

She raised an eyebrow. "Even when I went to the trouble of making it for you?"

"I'll drink it later, and thank you for making it. I just wanted to grab a decongestant…"

She glared at him very firmly. "Drink it."

"I told you, I don't want to right now."

"Drink it!"

"No."

"Sit your ass down in that chair and drink your goddamn tea!"

"You just made a Final Fantasy reference."

"I know. Drink your damn tea!"

"No!"

He grabbed the bottle of cold medicine. "I'm going back to bed."

He turned on his heel, hearing Yuki snort behind him. "You suck!" she called at his retreating back.


	143. Too kind for your own good

A/N: This drabble takes place likely sometime during or after an installment which has the working title of Borderline. This one, I'm really seriously not sure if I'll ever get to. I hope I do. It'd be the story that comes after Crystal War. There's a few little extra things that get kind of weird, I guess...

* * *

Background: Ken is basically like... a spirit medium/necromancer. Rather, he becomes one during Borderline.

* * *

Davis was more than a little spooked when he walked into the living room and saw Ken having tea with what looked like the grim reaper.

Knowing the Digiworld, it probably _was _the grim reaper. Or some digimon version of him.

It looked like the two were done though, because the being stood and bowed respectfully to Ken. The boy bowed back, and then the being floated away from where they had been seated, phasing through the window and fading away into nothing as Davis watched, staring.

"Who was that?" he asked dumbly.

Ken just sighed as he picked up the teapot and cups, preparing to bring everything over to the kitchen.

"Ken, who the hell was that?" Davis shouted, flinging his arms into the air.

Ken gazed at Davis tiredly. "Putting it simply, an angry spirit of death who didn't understand connections to life, so I invited him to have tea with me so I could explain."

Davis' jaw dropped in disbelief.

"An angry spirit of _death_?"

"Mm-hmm."

"You invited him to have tea with you."

"Yeah."

"In the _living room_?"

Ken was walking back to the kitchen, and Davis followed him, unwilling to let this go.

"Well, I wanted a place that looked decent and fairly formal, and the living room fit," he shrugged, seemingly ignoring the fact that his friend was practically breathing down his back.

"He was an angry spirit of death!"

"So?"

Davis groaned. "You are way too kind for your own good."


	144. Someone shut them up!

A/N: Slightly holiday themed. Meant to be funny.

* * *

It had been going on for hours.

At first, everyone thought it was funny. A few people joined in, and they all laughed together at it. But then it got a little out of hand, as Charizard and Gengar continued their singing, horribly out of tune and with dissonant rhythms and harmonies, even when some of the more musical people asked them to please stop or otherwise keep their pitches constant.

The fact of the matter was, they were abusing the 'Everyone' setting on the Digigears, used primarily for announcements and emergency messages, and having far too much fun to care that just about everyone was ready to kill them.

"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way!"

Mimi's voice shrieked over it right afterwards.

"Someone shut them up!"


	145. Tail Flame

A/N: Pokemon related. Tee hee. Takes place fairly close to the beginning of the stay in the Digiworld.

* * *

Background: Tai has abilities related to fire.

* * *

He was probably having a little bit too much fun with the fire. He kept staring into it, shaping the flame into various faces and figures... there was Agumon, Kari, Sora, a dragon, a car, Koromon, a Yuramon, then Wargreymon...

"Uh, Tai..."

He experimented a little too, forcing the flame to the side, or making it slightly larger. Rather than making it smaller though, he simply released his hold on the fire and let it return to its original size, before playing around with it again.

This time there was a low growl.

"Tai..."

He tried adding more intensity to it, making it burn hotter and with more ferocity. There was such a beauty to the fire, a flare of life that danced and flickered, casting light on everything it touched, but at the same time a dangerous hunger that licked those that came too close.

"Oi! Tai!"

He jolted as Charizard pulled his tail away and glared at him fiercely.

"Stop playing with my tail flame!"

"Sorry."


	146. Fanservice

A/N: Look up the lyrics to "Vanilla" by Gackt, then watch a live performance from the 1999-2002 era. I don't mean any offense by the way, I happen to really like this song.

* * *

Nicole gazed at the two boys with a bored expression on her face. "Okay, I'm here. You wanted to show me what?"

Matt and Tai smiled deviously at each other. She didn't like it when they did that. It usually meant something that ended poorly for her in some manner.

"We just want to see what your reaction is to this," Matt answered, motioning at the screen.

She raised an eyebrow. "And this is...?"

Tai's grin was getting unnerving. "Live performance of Gackt's 'Vanilla'."

Nicole blinked. "Sure, whatever," she rolled her eyes. _Wonder what's so weird about this that they'd want to see my reaction for it…_

Matt started the video.

Three minutes later, Nicole was bright red and had her face buried in her arms.

"Come on, at least finish the video."

"The fanservice… oh Mew, the fanservice…" Nicole moaned. "The lyrics are bad enough, but... the _fanservice_…"

* * *

A/N: She cannot handle the fanservice! Mwahaha.


	147. Separate People

A/N: Character study. Yes, Mimi is a ninja.

* * *

Joe always thought that of the five girls, it was Mimi who surprised him the most.

She didn't like fighting. She never had; she was different from Yolei, who strove to become stronger and occasionally got some satisfaction out of beating enemies to a pulp. She didn't enjoy the physicality of it like Nicole, who in fact loved fighting purely for the sake of it and could be often found practicing various moves while waiting for something like cooking ramen. She wasn't like Sora, who incorporated the thoughts of a warrior into her lifestyle, from her training to the calm awareness of everything around her. She wasn't like Kari, who took pride in her technical abilities, practicing constantly as though her desire to protect the others and not let herself become the victim was driving her to perfection.

If anything, it was like she was two separate people.

Talking with her around the house, watching her at the orchard, seeing her gossiping about cooking and clothes and what the other Digidestined in the world were doing, was what he remembered of her. She was straightforward about her opinions, like she always had been, and held a great compassion for all those around her. She was older, yes, more mature, more responsible with an independent streak, but to him it was still Mimi.

In combat, she changed completely.

Gone was the sweet girl with a love for flowers and the color pink, who liked conversing with others and enjoying life. There were no hats, no frills, no gentle touch.

"Joe, are you ready?"

There she was, standing before him ready to depart on the latest mission. Her outfit was black, just loose enough to allow her flexible and quick movement, leaving nothing uncovered except for her head, though she had a hood and mask prepared - ideal for stealth work in the dark fortress they were headed to. He saw the knives, the pouch on her thigh, the tools on her belt, the fuuma shuriken on her back. Her long hair was bound tightly into a bun, held by small black hairclips and done neatly.

Her eyes were alive, focused, and deadly.

Joe knew why she had chosen this role. It was because of the fighting – she didn't enjoy getting hurt, or charging into battle like several of the others. She had chosen the path of one who struck from the shadows, never being seen or heard, denying the target a chance to resist. He knew she had the ability to fight if forced into direct combat – he had seen it multiple times – but it still scared him at times to see her like this, especially when he remembered who she had once been, long before the decision to live in the Digiworld.

"Y-yeah," he stuttered, adjusting the strap on his shoulder that held his spear. Gomamon and Palmon were waiting for them outside; now it was time for them to shift their mindset and infiltrate the fortress. He thought back to the mission plan, going over in his head all the roles they had to play, the methods for this particular place, the best ways to finish quickly and efficiently.

He supposed that when it came to the things they did, he changed too.


	148. Ballet

A/N: Follow-up to "Fanservice". The recording being referenced to is Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring", with the 1913 choreography. The one that started the riot at its premiere.

* * *

Background: Kari is a dancer.

* * *

Nicole was fairly adamant about making Tai and Matt watch this particular recording she had brought with her.

"You guys made me watch that Gackt video," she stated, "so I'm making you watch this."

Matt crossed his arms. "Let me guess. Lesbians?"

"No," she answered flatly. "Besides, do you think I would have asked Kari if she wanted to watch it too if it was?"

Both boys turned and glanced at Kari, who seemed genuinely interested in what Nicole was planning to show. "Good point," Tai said, frowning. "So what is this anyway?"

"A ballet."

Tai looked highly unamused. "You're making us watch a ballet?"

"Yes. I am making you watch a ballet."

The boys groaned, while Kari sighed at them. "Well, shall we start then?" she asked, turning back towards the screen. "This looks really interesting."

Nicole started the video.

Roughly thirty minutes later, as the video ended, the four of them sat back and stared for a few moments.

"That was... not very ballet-like," Tai said dumbly. "It was like... stomping dance circle mixed with seizures... but I couldn't stop watching."

Kari nudged him. "You should watch more dance," she exclaimed. "I really liked it... powerful and chilling in the second half too. I could see this as modern dance, but knowing it's a ballet gives it this whole different atmosphere."

Matt nodded in agreement. "I thought it was pretty cool."

Nicole was just watching Tai quizzically. The other two turned towards him too.

"… I need to watch this again to figure out why you guys like it so much."

Nicole grinned at him. "Ballets about sacrificing a virginal maiden to the god of Spring not your thing, is it?"


	149. Natto for Mimi

A/N: Follow-up to "Separate People". Takes place when they get back. The reference to natto is from the Diaboromon Strikes Back, in Japanese, where Mimi is on the plane and she's complaining about not being able to get natto. Natto is fermented soy beans.

* * *

As disconcerting as it was to see Mimi running around in what they called her 'stealth' outfit, and knowing what she was like in combat, some things simply did not change.

"Here's the data, and Joe's written up a report," she said, handing Izzy a disk. "Now, I'm going to take a nice long warm bubble bath. And Palmon, you're coming too," she added, picking up her partner. "We're absolutely filthy! It's been days since we got the chance to bathe, I feel like all my pores are clogged up, and I don't even want to think about what we smell like. And I want to get out of these clothes and wash them, and put on something much nicer looking, like a skirt or something, and do we have any natto? Natto sounds wonderful. Oh! And has Sora finished that project of hers yet, she said I could try it on when she finished!"

Izzy wordlessly handed her a cup with some natto in it, completely used to these outbursts whenever Mimi came home from a mission and also aware that natto was one of her favorite foods. "Here you go Mimi. I don't know if Sora's done, you'll have to ask her. And good job."

She squealed as Palmon took the cup from him. "Thank you Izzy! You're great!" she hugged him, filth-covered and all.

He watched her go, amused.


	150. Lost a Bet

A/N: Happy New Years! This drabble has nothing to do with new years. But it is winter themed...

* * *

Some people thought it was funny. Others thought it was one of the cruelest things in the world.

Staring at the calm water of the lake, the banks covered in snow and pieces of ice floating in the water, Izzy agreed with the latter group.

"I hate you," he glowered at the cheerful laughing crowd watching him. Sadly, some of these included those who believed this was not a good idea – they had agreed that in all fairness, Izzy would have to keep his end of the deal, even if the result was hypothermia.

_Oh WHY did I decide to participate in such an inane activity with this type of outcome when I KNEW that the probability of winning that bet was... okay, so it should have been fifty percent, but given all other factors, it was probably lower, why didn't I calculate this earlier, now I've dumped myself into this situation – _

Yolei, dressed in a warm down jacket complete with scarf and hat, just smiled as she held out her hand.

"Okay Izzy. Strip."


	151. I am responsible

A/N: Been very busy - but still writing! I always imagined Yolei and TK as gamers, and Tai definitely plays too. And yes, Tai actually _is _responsible about this.

* * *

Tai was busy coaching Kari through a Star Wars game – he was surprised that she had until now resisted the urge to pick up gaming from TK and Yolei, more surprised when she chose to play the Dark Side campaign path ("It's looks more interesting," she explained) – when he heard his Digigear beep.

"Pause it for a sec," he said as he checked the screen. He touched the button to answer. "Hey Joe, what's up?"

"Your partner," came the boy's irritated reply. "Agumon and all the fire types are having a 'flame off'. I've already extinguished two trees and part of the field. Can you come help me convince them all to move to the cliff, or at least come here and help me control the flames before the barn catches on fire too?"

Tai smiled a little. "Aww, why didn't they invite me?" he joked. He heard Joe groan on the other side, but Kari giggled. "I'm kidding," he answered quickly. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks."

There was a light beep as Joe disconnected, and Tai sighed as he pressed the button again to end his side. "You gonna' be okay for the boss fight?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "Go be responsible now."

"I _am_ responsible," he retorted as he stood to leave.


	152. Springtime for Hitler

A/N: I don't own "The Producers". Very funny, but also rather weird, imo... post-WWII humor, I guess. I'd suggest watching the trailer at least.

* * *

The sound of two girls singing wafted through the air.

"Springtime... for Hitler... and Germanyyy!"

Everyone stared as Mimi and Nicole waltzed off into the living room together, singing the next line ("Winter... for Poland... and Fraaaaance!").

"So who do you think started _that_?" Davis leaned over to ask Kari.

She shrugged helplessly. "Honestly? I don't know."


	153. He IS responsible

A/N: Followup. Takes place maybe ten minutes later? And everyone is probably just joking around regarding Tai's responsibility.

* * *

Kari approached Yolei and TK, who were both staring out the window in shock.

Both of them turned at hearing her footsteps. "How's the Dark Side?" Yolei asked nonchalantly.

"Fun," Kari admitted with a smile. "It's surprising how much you can get away with."

The three of them glanced back out the window at the chaos.

The entire field was ablaze.

The fire types and Agumon were clearly having far too much fun.

"STOOOOOOOOOOOOP!" Tai screamed, running around with his arms waving wildly in the air.

"He _is _responsible," TK commented.


	154. Poor confused kid

A/N: Followup? Kevin is American.

* * *

They were sitting around a campfire, on one of their longer patrols away from Zenkyoshi, when it started.

Mimi poked the fire with a long stick. "Springtime..." she said mournfully.

Nicole picked up immediately. "For Hitler..."

They looked at each other.

"And Germanyyy!" they sang together in perfect unison.

Kevin and his partner Elecmon just stared at them.

"... what the balls?"


	155. AB positive

A/N: My bio side hits again. Takes place after training in the Digiworld. And no, the girl being talked about isn't anyone in particular. Choose who you'd like her to be.

* * *

Davis was, to put it very bluntly, flipping out.

"She's AB positive, she has a rare blood type, and what if we can't find a donor, she's gonna' die, and Kari's only able to partly help, because this isn't just an injury, and what do we do, she won't make it - "

Joe looked at him sternly. "Davis. Chill."

Davis stopped ripping the hair from his head and stared. "Why are you not freaking out?" he cried. "You're the doctor around here, you know how bad this situation is!"

Joe was completely calm, as were most of the people in the room. "You've completely forgotten your biology, haven't you?"

Davis blinked. "Wha…?"

"AB positive takes anything. She'll be fine."

Davis stood still for a good few seconds.

"Oh. Oh. That's good."

He plopped down very tiredly on the floor, staring into space.


	156. Stripperific

A/N: Inspired by one too many ads for fantasy mmos and a few Oblivion mods. And the ensuing dilemma of just how practical female armor is. I wanted to make a blatant Sorato joke, but decided not to.

* * *

Sora frowned as she looked at the various pictures for inspiration. "These were obviously designed by men."

Matt, staring over her shoulder, raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

She pointed at the first picture. "This is not armor. This is a chainmail bikini." She pointed to the second. "This one's not nearly as bad, but it leaves the entire sternum bare. Maybe it's not such an issue for us since our fighting is pretty evasion based, but getting hit once would be fatal. And this," she pointed to the third, "The top isn't bad, but the bottom. The bottom! There is no bottom! It's a thong! Do you know how uncomfortable those things are? Not to mention _fighting_ in them?"

Matt looked at her blankly. She sighed at him. "Of course you wouldn't. Probably a good thing too."

She turned back to the pictures, glaring at each one.

"Maybe you should try different sources for inspiration?" Matt suggested weakly. "I mean, a lot of games are aimed at guys, so half the time female armor and clothing looks pretty, uh..."

"Stripperiffic?"

They both looked down again.

"You could distract our enemies."

Sora raised an eyebrow at him. "More like distract all the guys on our team."

"... it might not be too bad outside of combat."

She rolled her eyes and lightly thwacked his head. "Man."


	157. Hello Kitty

"How could you Kari? _How could you?_" Davis cried, his hands practically ripping the hair from his head.

She stared back at him. "I don't understand why you're taking it this badly," she shook her head in disbelief.

"It's – it's – it's - "

Kari sighed and looked at the object in her palm. "It's just Hello Kitty. It's not something occult or anything like that..."

"I thought I begged you not to buy that... that evil thing! It's going to do the same thing to you that it did to my sister! It may look cute, but the moment you turn around it'll _transform you into a blood-thirsty fangirl out for the lives of innocent men_!"

Veemon blinked at his partner. "So you mean this Hello Kitty thing is kind of like a digivice that made June digivolve?"

"Davis!" Kari cried out, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Stop overreacting! I didn't buy this just because it was cute, okay? I bought it because it's also a really obnoxiously loud alarm clock."

"So is it a digivice or not?" Veemon wailed.


	158. Battle Axe

A/N: Silly release while writing the last chapter of Survival. I can't believe it's almost done. Also references one of the earlier chapters of Survival. Takes place towards the Borderline era.

* * *

Background: Blaster is a male Blastoise, on Ken's team. Memory watching is done though a device/computer/room to watch memories (put together by Yolei and Izzy). Everyone has some level of training with each other's weapons.

* * *

TK was minding his own business, sitting on a couch reading an article one of his friends had asked him to edit, when someone suddenly trotted over and banged something rather large and heavy onto the coffee table in front of him.

He looked immediately and stared.

"I was memory watching," Blaster stated, looking oddly eager. "And I saw you use an axe to fight. I wanna see you do it again."

TK continued to stare in disbelief.

"That was a hand axe," he replied incredulously. "This is a battle axe. Where did you get it from, I didn't know we had axes this big in the armory."

"We don't," Blaster answered cheerfully. "I borrowed it from Boltmon. So can you do a demo?"

TK smacked his forehead. "Blaster, you know perfectly well that I was eleven in that memory, and hadn't been trained in combat yet. I don't use axes."

"No, but you're not bad with Tai's sword, and I figure it's pretty similar, right?"

"… do I have to?"


	159. Heartless

A/N: Follow up to Hello Kitty.

* * *

"How's the new alarm clock?" Yolei asked absently one morning at breakfast.

Kari sighed, dumping some granola into her yogurt. "Well, it's doing its job. And I certainly don't have the heart to throw it across the room," she added pointedly towards her friend.

Yolei just shrugged as she popped an apple slice in her mouth. "It doesn't really matter to me what it looks like. If it's annoying, at the wall it goes."

Kari giggled slightly, mixing her yogurt with a spoon. Yolei sighed, shrugging. "I know, it makes me sound heartless."

"It's more that, just knowing you, I'd think the fact that it's cute would make you more likely to throw it."

Yolei threw her hands up in the air excitedly. "Exactly! It's super cute, but so annoying and obnoxious, and when you're half asleep you just want it to shut up, and then you turn to look at it and it's just this cute, little demonic thing beeping at you..."

"Well, I think I have a good reason now to never let you borrow my alarm clock."


	160. AND GERMANY!

A/N: I swear, this is the last Producers related drabble I'll upload. It's just... the Springtime for Hitler thing is the most memorable part of that musical for me and my entire family, so it's what sticks out in my head when I think of it...

* * *

It was silent in the living room, and given the people sitting in it, everyone knew it was not going to be silent for very long.

A few new Digidestined sat there with their partners, looking nervous as they faced some of the people that they had, by now, heard a great deal about. The ones who had saved both worlds. Defeated evil. Lived in the Digiworld. Led armies to victory in amazing battles. Used the powers of their crests to protect everyone.

The awkwardness was duly noted by everyone else.

Nicole's eyes shifted as she smiled weakly. "… springtime..." she said randomly.

Mimi glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. "For Hitler?"

Then, to everyone's surprise, the eldest of the boys, a college student, suddenly burst out into a huge grin, stood up, and sang in a beautiful, full, classically trained voice.

"And GERMANYYYY!"

Nicole and Mimi jumped up, ecstatic.

"You know that musical?" Mimi asked excitedly.

The boy nodded vigorously, the grin on his face widening. "Yeah I do. I've performed it!"

The amount of gleeful singing and squeeing that followed could only be described as a wonderful bonding experience that completely bewildered many of the others there.

Tai crossed his arms and sat back into the couch. "Okay, that does it. We're watching the Producers next movie night."


	161. They are my friends, not my food

A/N: This is the sort of thing I hope never happens to me when I'm in the middle of a writing spree. Follow-up for... well. I don't own Sanrio. And... well, regarding the quote, I just recall reading it on a Hello Kitty hairbrush I once had...

* * *

It was three in the morning, and TK was writing.

No matter the time, or Patamon sleeping in the corner, or the fact that the only light in his room came from his laptop screen. There had just been so much inspiration, and he found it difficult to stop. The scene he was typing up just continued to flow out, as though the words were an exact expression of the images he saw in his head; he felt excitement as the story took form, the excess of ideas in his head just urging him on.

Then he froze as he heard something at his door.

He turned slowly towards the entrance to his room, blinking wearily as the adrenaline from his spree of writing slightly faded, leaving him drowsy. He had no idea what was going on, and in his sleepy mind, felt no alarm even as the door handle turned.

He knew there was no need to worry anyway. In all honesty, he just felt annoyed.

Two familiar figures snuck into his room, the smug looks on their faces quickly becoming replaced by expressions of surprise the moment they saw him. One of them turned on the lights.

He stared at them blankly.

"... hi TK," Kari said, blinking. She had her camera out, and was obviously recording the entire escapade.

"You're awake," Davis stated.

TK gazed at the duo.

"What are you guys doing in here?" he asked suspiciously. "It's three in the morning."

Both Kari and Davis glanced at each other, eyes moving shiftily as though unsure how to explain themselves and looking towards the other for advice.

"We – uh – wanted to say hi?" Davis said weakly.

TK raised an eyebrow. "At three in the morning?"

"Well, uh, Kari had a weird dream and wanted to talk about it and I was still up downstairs so she came and grabbed me and we talked for a while and then she wanted to see you so we figured we'd pop in and say hi?"

TK was actually quite impressed with Davis' ability to make up stories on the spot. Were it not for the fact that it was three in the morning and Kari was holding a camera that had the red recording light on, he could possibly have believed him.

"Right, so what was this dream?" he turned to her, whose eyes widened. She immediately glared at Davis, who shrugged helplessly.

She winced. "Um... it had to do with noodles. Davis, we need to leave - "

An extremely loud shrieking sound echoed from under TK's bed. He turned to it in shock, blinking as he recognized some words it was shouting, which might have been exceptionally cute if it were not turned up so high that the sound was distorted.

"I LIKE FISH! THEY ARE MY FRIENDS, NOT MY FOOD!"

He stared at his friends in disbelief.

"... really?"

The two looked at each other.

"... Bye!" they shouted as they very quickly ran out the door.

TK stared after them for a few moments, then, having had enough of hearing Kari's demonic Hello Kitty alarm clock, shook his head and hopped off his chair to go search for the horrible thing.


	162. I Talk to the Rain

A/N: A mixture of news about the earthquake and resulting tsunamis in Japan and listening to the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle soundtrack resulted in this. In particular, the track "I Talk to the Rain". I don't know when this would take place - probably any time after Crystal War.

* * *

Expression.

That was really what helped her when nothing seemed to go right.

She wasn't a dancer, nor an athlete, nor crafter, nor machinist. No, what she was, was a musician, and a warrior; expression came through the tools she used to interpret her thoughts and transform feelings into sound and movement.

That day, when everything came tumbling down and she needed to escape, to hide herself from the world, she could not let sound draw the others near her. So she returned to the other thing that could let her release what emotions were still bottled within.

The rain poured down; her clothing soaked, plastered to her skin, rivulets of water falling down her face, wet beads dripping from her black hair. The air should have felt cold, chilling her to the bone, but at that moment in time, it was far away and surreal. The shade of the grove, the damp ground beneath her bare feet, none of it felt real.

She let it speak to her.

_Wash your worries away... empty your mind, focus on the energy of the world. Feel your heart beat, your pulse rise, know that you exist, and all things pass. Live in the moment. Learn to move._

She drew her sword and moved.

It was a form she knew well, one that challenged her balance and flexibility. A twist of her wrist, a strike, extension of the leg, dodge, a spin here, a lunging stab... her body knew steps, each part of the form ingrained into her muscle memory, and her mind felt almost blank as she continued. Rainwater flicked off the tip of her sword's edge, and everything seemed to whirl around her.

There was a beauty in the sword, its bladed edge that acted as an extension of herself. It led her in graceful, but efficient arcs designed for utilizing in combat, and she put her strength into each slash in the air, imagining that the spirits of the world were with her, dancing in the rain and watching as she continued to move and take in the energy of the storm.

As she finished, she felt the heat of her blood rise to her skin, warmth from her core keeping the cold at bay. She realized she was breathing harder from the exertion, and smiled as rain continued to pour.

_And so I have spoken._


	163. Kiss the Girl

A/N: Takes place during Formatting, before TK and Kari get together. Very strong Takari hints, at least from TK's side. I do not own Disney.

* * *

Background: Matt is psychic and certainly knows enough English now to be able to sing this song well... and Kari's a dancer.

* * *

TK was sitting in a chair; supposedly, he was reading a book, but he was really trying very hard not to stare at Kari, who was lounging on the floor nearby with her laptop, absorbed in watching some dance she was thinking of restaging. He kept finding himself glancing over every time she got up to attempt a move, and whenever she was paying attention only to her laptop screen, he would find his gaze drawn towards her.

Then he suddenly heard a voice singing in his head.

**There you see her… sitting there across the way…**

He blinked. _Is he... singing inside my head?_

**She don't got a lot to say, but there's something about her...**

TK immediately looked across the room and saw Matt, leaning against the doorway with a smirk on his face.

**And you don't know why, but you're dyin' to try, you wanna, kiss the girl.**

He glared at his brother and quickly shook his head. 'No', he mouthed emphatically.

Matt just continued to smile in an oddly knowing way.

**Sha-la-la-la-la-la – **

"Excuse me a moment Kari," TK said quickly, putting his book down and standing up. Kari gazed at him confusedly as he strode directly up to his brother, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him out of the room.


	164. A Whole New World?

A/N: I couldn't resist. Sorato, and Tai x OC. Takes place after Crystal War - which is good I guess, because it shows they can still all be goofy and have fun together after something like that. I don't own Disney. Matt is psychic. And I figure him and Tai are close enough that they can pick up on each other's cues pretty darned well. Inspired by a very funny college acapella performance I saw on Youtube - PM me if you want the link. :P

* * *

Tai wasn't exactly sure how he had gotten into this situation, but everyone else apparently thought it would be funny for him to sing the female part of this duet. He didn't really have a problem with it, but he really thought that Matt's voice would have been better on the girl part than his...

Not to mention that _both_ of their girlfriends were present, and he didn't see why he couldn't just sing it with his...

"No one to tell us no, or where to go," Matt sang as the karaoke music swelled behind them. "Or say we're only dreaming..."

Tai took a deep breath.

"A whole new wooooorld," he sang out in bright falsetto, grinning slightly as everyone around him burst out laughing. "A dazzling place I never knew! But when I'm way up here - " at this he raised his arm out as though he were flying, "It's crystal clear - "

"Wow, I didn't know you were so good at this," his girlfriend giggled.

Tai finished his line and winked at her as Matt began his next part.

"Now I'm in a whole new world with you - "

"Unbelievable sights!" he sang out again, a very funny idea suddenly forming in his head. "Indescribable feeling! Soaring, tumbling, free-wheeling," he pretended that he was zooming around, much to everyone's amusement, "Through an endless diamond sky!" He turned to Matt. "A whole new wooooorld!"

Matt seemed more preoccupied with the music and watching everyone else. "Don't you dare close your eyes…"

Tai suddenly grinned. "A hundred thousand things to see!"

_Oh, this'll be good._

"Hold your breath it gets better."

"I'm like a shooting star, I've come so far," he sang out, and then he suddenly grabbed Matt's arm and gazed at him imploringly. "I can't go back to where I used to be - "

Matt stared at him as though he just lost his mind, but kept singing. "A whole new woooorld - "

"Every turn a surprise!" he grabbed his friend and spun around him in a graceful flurry.

"…. With new horizons…?"

"Every moment red letter!"

Matt seemed to understand exactly what Tai was doing, but was somewhat creeped out by it. Regardless, as they entered the last verse together, Tai noticed that literally every single being in the room was laughing uproariously.

"- let me share this whole new world with you…"

Tai grabbed Matt's arm again and buried his head into his shoulder.

Matt's eyes were very wide. "… A whole new woooooorld…"

Tai was happily still in falsetto. He gazed up at him with his most lovesick smile and batted his eyelashes. "A whole new woooorld…"

The horrified expression on Matt's face was something Tai wanted to remember for years to come. He was really quite impressed that his best friend was still singing. "That's – where – we'll – be…?"

"That's where we'll beeee..."

Matt's face finally shifted into a crafty smirk.

**Fine, if that's the way you want it.**

"A thrilling chase..." Matt grabbed Tai into an overly dramatic, but tender embrace.

Tai gazed back at him in a soppy, romantic way. "A wondrous place…"

If anything, the noise from everyone else in the room was nearly drowning them out.

The two of them looked at each other, clasping hands.

"For you and me…"

The music was still going, and at the last chord, Tai suddenly blinked when he realized that Matt was _petting his head_.

The rest of the room had just about died with laughter, a couple people curled up on the floor gasping for breath.

As the music finally ended, the two boys separated.

Matt grinned and placed both hands on his hips. "Ha. Got you back."

Tai scrunched his face in. "You didn't have to _pet my head_," he spoke, happy to be in his normal register.

"You're the one who started it."

He grinned. "True."

As they left the front so Izzy could choose the next song (though he was still laughing), Tai noticed both Sora and his girlfriend furiously giggling.

"Matt, you horrible person, you've stolen my boyfriend," she shook her finger at the boy in question.

He shrugged. "What can I say? I guess I'm a good looking guy."

"And you," she turned to Tai with a knowing grin. "I had no idea that you were secretly a Matt fangirl. Now we'll have to duel for his hand in marriage."

"Not without my permission," Sora noted as a smile crept onto her face.

Tai turned to her. "Do we have your permission?"

Her smile grew very wide. "Yes."

Tai dramatically grabbed a spoon.

"Engarde!" he shouted in challenge, only to be beaten away by his girlfriend wielding a pillow.

Everyone else just continued watching the scene, while Matt shook his head, thinking that everyone, including himself, was insane.


	165. Gomamon's Request

A/N: This was just an odd image in my head... I don't own Disney. And I'm going off of the Japanese version of Digimon here, where it is basically confirmed that Joe is tone deaf - even his seiyuu said so. Even though he has very nice image songs.

* * *

"ARABIAN NIIIIIIIIIGHTS, LIKE ARABIAN DAAAAAAAYS - "

Matt had his hands clapped over his ears. "Dear god, someone _please_ shut him up," he moaned.

Izzy glared at Tai, who wasn't even trying to look innocent as he poured himself another shot.

"No," he stated firmly, as he leaned forward to try and take the bottle away. "This is your fault. You're not drinking any more until you fix it."

Tai raised an eyebrow. "He's perfectly happy," he motioned to the taller boy still belting out his lungs.

"He's absolutely plastered!" Matt shouted angrily. "And he's already basically tone deaf! So I don't think more alcohol is going to help, and I bet Gomamon is wondering what the hell we did to him – "

"Yeah, what _did _you do to him?"

The three boys turned to the digimon who had just entered the room and was busy staring at his very drunk partner.

"I know I told you guys to help him relax," Gomamon said slowly, eyes wide at the sight. "But this wasn't exactly what I meant…"


	166. Forest with Blue Trees

A/N: Anyone else been having that Error Type 2 bug? I have. I'm using a workaround right now, hope it gets fixed soon. :/

* * *

Most places in the Digiworld had names, but there were a fair number of other locations that most dismissed as, "That mountain" or "The big hill with rocks on top". In their work, the Digidestined were used to referring to these places by coordinate numbers, but when these locations became strategically important, or someone needed to do work there, everyone took to giving them actual names.

"We are not calling this place, 'That forest with blue trees,'" Joe's eyebrow twitched. "There are hundreds of forests with blue trees. Most of them don't have names. How did digimon get around for so long without actual names for places?"

Gomamon shrugged. "I dunno. It made perfect sense to me…"

Joe sighed, crossing his arms as he gazed around. "Well for our purposes, we need to call it something distinctive... any ideas?"

"Forest with fluffy blue trees?"

"… no."


	167. Who named it?

A/N: Sequel to the last drabble. Yes, everyone can work together.

* * *

Nicole pored over the map, trying to search for any good strategic locations where the team could regroup if things went wrong.

_I know we named a bunch of them recently… there's Ford's Hill, Ender, Lake Silia… _

She saw the name printed neatly over a forest region and choked.

"What's wrong?" Blastoise asked from where she lay warming herself in the sun.

Nicole wordlessly handed her the map. The other team members crowded around the pokémon as she pointed to what had caused her moment of surprise.

Blastoise snorted, eyes growing wide. Meramon stared, Dragonair tilted her head, Cloyster blinked, and Karatenmon only groaned and smacked his forehead.

"Fluffy Bunny," the digimon shook his head. "Fluffy Bunny. Which one of you Zenkyoshi residents named that forest?"


	168. It started out as a joke

A/N: Just gonna say that this and the last two drabbles were inspired by hydrothermal vent field names. Examples include Salty Dawg, White Rhino, and Godzilla. I'm absolutely serious, these are real names.

*Edit* Okay, so technically Godzilla is a vent chimney that collapsed in 1991. Woo?

* * *

The voices crackled over their Digigears, both amused and annoyed at the same time.

"Guys… who named a forest 'Fluffy Bunny'?"

Joe and Gomamon looked at each other.

"Should we be answering this?" Gomamon whispered.


	169. Tai's response to Takari

A/N: Tai's messing around. Kari plays along. Takes place after Formatting.

* * *

"Life is so cruel! My family shamed forever! I'm going to jump! Farewell, world!" Tai wailed dramatically to the air and the broad landscape before him.

"No Tai! Don't do it!" Kari screamed from below.

Matt just shook his head and snorted. "Yeah. He's going to die a horrible gruesome death jumping off a ledge that's exactly one meter off the ground."


	170. Skirt Day

A/N: Very slice of life.

* * *

It wasn't anything out of the ordinary for most of the girls to wander around wearing skirts, as for them it was a regular clothing item. It wasn't until Nicole walked downstairs wearing one that the boys realized something was up.

"… you own a skirt?" Tai asked skeptically as the girl in question wandered to the fridge.

Nicole sighed. "It's Skirt Day."

"Ooooooooh."

Davis crossed his arms. "Makes sense, the other girls are all in skirts too. Just a girl thing then."

She raised an eyebrow as she pulled out a couple eggs. "It could be a boy thing too, though you'd have to borrow a few skirts. Or maybe a kilt."

"… I'll take the kilt."

She winked and gave him a cheeky expression. "Oh, but how wonderful would it be to see your beautiful unshaven legs with a cute ruffled skirt - "

"You're not finishing that sentence."

She huffed at him. "Fine, be that way." Then she found the bottle of soy sauce and began rummaging for a bowl.

Tai refused to leave the conversation at that. Nicole rarely wore skirts, and he was going to take advantage of this 'Skirt Day' in any way he could. He grinned at Matt, then turned back to her a whistled.

"Tai, you know that I'm holding two raw eggs."

"So you are."


	171. Shirtless Day

A/N: Follow-up to the last drabble.

* * *

Sora nearly choked on her sandwich when she saw the boys come down for lunch.

"Wh-why are none of you wearing shirts?"

Tai's grin was almost devious. "The boys called it, so today's Shirtless Day."

Sora's mouth opened, then closed as she continued to stare at the eight boys standing before her. Matt began flexing, apparently just to make her blush even more.

"Well, uh…" she began, trying very hard not to look at him and focus on just faces, "At least you're all pretty fit, and, uh… nice on the… eyes?" she stammered a little, realizing that she could very easily be digging a hole for herself.

Right on cue, Mimi and Nicole walked into the room and froze in shock. Nicole automatically ducked back out with a muffled "Oh Mew…"

Mimi looked back and giggled. "Well, I don't mind. I could probably go for this."

Tai suddenly grinned and leaned over to the side, apparently trying to see around Mimi into the doorway. "Well you know, Shirtless Day doesn't have to be only for guys…"

Nicole's voice echoed from the other hallway. "Mimi, Sora, one of you hit him for me please."

"Gladly."


	172. That's one way to study

A/N: Inspired by something that actually happened during a study session. Organic chemistry is generally taught at the college level and is required for premeds (aka Joe). It's also required for chem and bio majors, as far as I know. Everyone does enroll in college, mostly because they realize they need the degree to get jobs once they return to the real world, even if they aren't nearly as involved as one would normally be in campus life, due to a more full-time commitment to the Digiworld. Yes, I realize this is similar to a certain DigiAnecdote I wrote maybe six years ago...

And yes. It's actually suggested to make flashcards depicting the mechanisms for organic reactions when studying orgo. As well as using model kits. Wow, I feel old and nerdy...

* * *

Davis really liked watching last minute group study sessions. They were always very loud, and mostly consisted of everyone yelling at each other and drawing pictures at the same time. So what if it was organic chemistry and he saw absolutely no use of it for himself in the future? Seeing Joe, Tai, Yolei, and Sora shouting at each other from across the room and positively flipping out was worth it.

"So glucose is a monosaccharide, and its open-chain form, which looks like this," Joe drew a quick diagram on the whiteboard, which looked a lot more like a zigzag line with a bunch of –OHs, a =O, and a –H coming off of it, "exists in solution in a cyclic form."

Tai raised his hand and pointed at the picture with a look of insight. "Which connects by having a nucleophilic reaction between the C-1 aldehyde group and either the C-4 or C-5 hydroxyl!"

_Why is Tai here again? He doesn't even need orgo. Oh yeah. Orgo test challenge with Izzy. I still bet Izzy's gonna win…_

"And a nucleophilic reaction happens here when a nucleophile attacks the aldehyde carbon, making the extra proton pop off so the oxygen has an extra negative charge – I think?" Yolei scratched her head, gazing at the board.

"Something like that I guess," Tai shrugged helplessly. "Where're your reaction flashcards?"

"On my desk or in the kitchen, probably. Let me see…"

She hopped off the table she had been sitting on and walked straight up to the board, grabbing a pen to write the steps.

"All right, so we've got our nice glucose… and here's our end point, with our cyclic glucose, connected by the oxygen at the C-1 and C-5 carbons… here's our lovely CH2OH, and all our OHs connected to the carbons… and I guess the way that I'm drawing it makes it an alpha glucose, which means it's got a trans arrangement… even better, it's technically an alpha-D-glucopyranose, and it kinda looks like - "

"SHEEP!"

Sora, who had also been sitting on a table, jumped off and charged at the board, grabbing a pen from a very shocked Joe. She quickly scribbled fluff around the entire main hexagon of the diagram, added eyes and ears to the 'CH2OH', and drew a small speech bubble with the phrase "Baaaaaa" to it. Then she stepped back, smiled brightly at her work, reared back her head, and laughed.

Everyone stared at her.

"… are you okay?" Davis asked tentatively.

* * *

A/N: The correct answer is No. :P


	173. Boobies

A/N: I thought this response up a while back. Nicole is the _only _girl in the group who would react this way.

* * *

_Sometimes I don't know why I like Truth or Dare so much… oh well, here goes…_

Davis strode up to Nicole.

Then he looked straight at her chest and shouted, "BOOBIES!"

She just blinked at him.

"That's a genus of seabird," she stated, raising an eyebrow. "Though I wasn't aware that the birds I have on my shirt were of that type."

Indeed, her shirt had a picture of a few birds on it… but that wasn't what got Davis' attention.

He stared at her. "But… boobies?"

Nicole sighed and patted his head. "I don't know a whole lot about them, but maybe we can go bird watching some time."

Then she grabbed the book she had come to retrieve before leaving the room.

Davis just blinked after her, still standing in place, not even turning when Tai and Matt cautiously arose from their hiding places.

"Is she seriously that clueless?" he exclaimed in disbelief.

Tai and Matt looked at each other, and then shook their heads.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure she did that on purpose," Tai scratched his head.


	174. In which Tai burns something

A/N: Basically, what I wish I could do every now and then, and a small writing outburst on my part as well. Little gift for blog readers~

* * *

Kari blinked and stopped her form when she saw Tai stalk into the training ground in a livid rage.

"Tai…?"

He growled. "Kari, is there anything here we don't particularly need?"

She knew that tone and what it meant.

"There's the woodpile over there," she pointed over to the corner of the small clearing.

Tai turned towards it, narrowed his eyes, and made a single sweeping hand motion.

KAFOOM.

Kari stepped back from the blazing woodpile as flame whirled around it, a plume of smoke exploding up into the clear sky. The bright orange fire roared, engulfing the logs and blackening everything it touched; even a few tinges of blue appeared from the base.

A few minutes later, the woodpile had been reduced to ashes.

She tentatively turned towards her brother. "Feel better…?"

"Much," he answered, seeming satisfied as he waved his hand again, the last few embers going out with a tiny crackle. "Sorry to bug you."

Then he walked back out just as quickly as he came in.

Kari stared after him, then to the remains of the woodpile, then back.

… _well it's better than something in the house…_

* * *

Tai's just pissed off. What he's pissed off at, you are free to decide.


	175. That bad, huh

A/N: Takes place likely very close to the end of the stay in the Digiworld.

* * *

"Nicole, I need the perspective of another person going into academia, what do you think of this trace data?"

"…Oh Mew."

"Yes, it looks horrible."

"Izzy, it's crap. It's absolute, complete crap. When was the last time you changed the buffer?"

"Last week. And yes, I know it's crap, I just needed your opinion on whether or not I should even attempt reading it."

"I would run it again…"

"Okay, I suppose I'll do that. How's your research going?"

"…"

"That bad, huh?"

"… I think I'm getting some ale, you want any?"


	176. I have a mace

A/N: Definitely takes place after Formatting.

* * *

When Davis returned from his mission with Veemon, he decided he was going to make his entrance very loud. Plus, he had a souvenir.

With that, he barged straight into the house, startling everyone as he held up his prize.

"Behold!" he bellowed, ignoring the laughing digimon behind him. "I, Davis the Awesome, have returned from my mission! And I have a MACE!"

Most everyone blinked and stared at him.

Mimi reacted first and dug her hand into her sundress pocket. "And I have… mace," she held up what looked like a small aerosol can.

Davis just leveled his eyes with her. "Why do you have mace? You don't need it."

"True," she acknowledged, nodding with a small shrug. "But I don't think the police would take too kindly to me walking down the street with my fuuma shuriken and kunai."

Davis paused, imagining the sight. Mimi, merrily going about her way down the sidewalk in her cute pink sundress, her fuuma shuriken strapped to her back and blades tacked along her arms. Nope, not the most peaceful sight in the middle of New York City.

"Good point," he agreed. "But I still have a mace!"

"That you don't need," Mimi pointed out. "Seeing as you already have a gunblade."

Davis pouted at her. "Come on, it's a freaking mace. It's awesome."

"You aren't sneaking in anywhere with waving that around."

"Like a giant shuriken is any better! Oi, me and Veemon just got back from a mission, can't you give me a little slack?"


	177. Water and Glasses

A/N: Inspired by the scene I'm writing for Disconnect chapter 8 right now. I'm sure every glasses wearer has experienced annoyances of the sort described.

* * *

Background: Joe has abilities with water.

* * *

Yolei grumbled as they trudged across the swamp. "It's raining… I hate having to deal with rain," she muttered as she wiped the water from her glasses. "And I can't see anything either. If we weren't trying to sneak in, this'd be so much easier, we could just fly… I should have worn contacts, maybe I should get out the goggles…"

"It'll be okay," Joe shrugged as he marched beside her. "Once we get to the stone towers, we should be fine."

She glanced up at him. He seemed to be in a rather pleasant mood, going along as though it were everyday life.

"I know you like rain," she commented, "But you're awfully nonchalant about this."

"It's nice. It's not really storming at all – if we weren't on a mission, this might be the sort of weather I'd take a walk in."

Yolei glared. He was missing the point. "What are you talking about? The rain hits our glasses and we can't even see, you would know too glasses wearer – oh."

She realized, through the wet blurs of the lenses before her, that Joe had absolutely no difficulty seeing.

"… you know," she said conversationally, "if you're gonna' use your crest power to keep your glasses dry, you could do the same for me."

Joe blinked.

"Oh… oh! Aagh, sorry!"

He apologized rather profusely for his obliviousness and quickly helped her.


	178. Post episode Reaction

A/N: Not really a funny drabble, but semi-serious/amusing depending on how you take it. Inspired by... well, my gut reaction right after watching episode 32 of Blood+. The show mentioned isn't really any show in particular, but... basically, just anything where a younger brother dies horrifically. x.x

* * *

TK had been mostly minding his own business as he walked down the hall past the media room, when Matt suddenly walked out the door right into view.

"Hey," TK waved, intending to keep going, but he stopped when he saw Matt's expression.

His brother gazed at him, pale and a little shaken. He wavered slightly, eyes widening in… was that grief?

Before TK could ask anything, Matt strode directly up to him and pulled him into a tight hug.

He returned it, though at the same time he felt very confused.

"… Matt?"

The older boy released him, breathing a long sigh as he rested his hands firmly on his younger brother's shoulders.

"I'm fine," he answered, closing his eyes briefly. Then he opened them and smiled. "Just…" he gave a weak laugh. "Never mind, it's stupid. That… that show I was watching... anyway."

He clapped TK hard on the back and continued on his way.

TK paused for a moment, watching his brother walk down the hall. Then in a quick burst of thought, he ran after him.

"Hey, it's not stupid," he stated, matching Matt's pace beside him. "I'll watch it with you later. Feel like jamming now?"

Matt smiled back gratefully. "Sure, sounds great."


	179. Yes Sir

A/N: I'm not really sure what spawned this... it's not even really funny so much as awkward considering the location. Also, this is the first time I've written a drabble that takes place outside the Digiworld! Yay?

Anyway, this takes place either during Borderline or afterwards, and contains elements specific to Crystal War, which takes place before these stories (whenever I get around to writing them). Reactions are not nearly as sudden with Chosen digimon due to them not being nearly as recognizable as Chosen by other digimon...

* * *

There were usually two reactions that digimon strangers had when they saw any of the human Zenkyoshi residents in human world. The first, which was most common, often consisted of "By Fanglongmon this one of _those_ Digidestined, you saved (insert location/digimon) however can I thank you is there anything I can do can I get your autograph?"

The second was significantly less common, mostly because the digimon who had previously disliked human presence and suddenly found themselves in the human world (often paired up with a rather bewildered human) had by that point accepted that the connection of worlds was there to stay. This reaction usually involved ignoring the person altogether, much staring, or an uneasy, "Hi there."

This one was neither.

"_General?_"

Tai paused and turned to the side, blinking in surprise at the Gummymon sitting there staring in awe.

"Er… yes?"

The digimon continued to gape, then quickly shook himself and made an attempt to salute.

"General!" Gummymon tried to stand in an assertive military stance, doing a fairly good job considering his current form. "It's good to see you after so long sir. Er, I was a Monzaemon during the Crystal War."

_Oh, okay, now this makes sense. It's been so long since then…_

He saluted back, trying to keep as low profile as possible considering the number of staring people surrounding them.

"At ease. Good to see you too," he answered.

Gummymon relaxed, seemingly ignoring his partner who sat next to him with an expression of absolute confusion. "I…" he paused, then took a deep breath and continued. "I apologize for seeming so forward, but may I ask what you're doing here sir?"

Tai was almost glad that Agumon wasn't with him. "Um, attending class, last time I checked."

Gummymon gaped as though the thought of such a famed figure in the Digiworld doing something as mundane as attending a college lecture was almost unthinkable.

"So you're – wait, so you two are classmates?" he turned to his still very bewildered partner, then to Tai, then back, then back again. "…sir?" he added in a plain attempt to hide his astonishment.

"You don't have to call me that here," Tai answered in a hushed voice, grimacing a little at the fact that most of the people in the room were staring at them now. "We can catch up later after class."

"Yes sir!"

_Not to mention there were so many digimon involved during the war and it was so long ago that I don't even remember under whose command Gummymon was… _

He grinned at the digimon's partner. "Uh, nice to meet you by the way," he greeted cheerfully. _Wow, this is kinda awkward…_


	180. Semi contact, not full contact

A/N: Takes place during training early on. Thankfully, this has never happened to me.

* * *

"Remember, semi contact! Don't actually hurt your partner!"

The boy and girl sparring weren't listening. They were too busy blocking and dodging, trying to tap the other, forcing open weak points and doing their utmost best to win the short round of sparring. If anything, it seemed almost too competitive for just a regular spar.

For those watching, it became fairly apparent that the two weren't even really holding back.

Nicole managed to trap Tai's arms, and he responded with a sweeping kick. She lifted her leg in time, turning it into another attack as she aimed at his stomach, but he jumped away, pulling his arms free as he did so. Then he launched back with another assault, shouting out as he did so, and Nicole charged straight back at him –

BAM.

"Gah!"

Tai's eyes widened and he stepped away as Nicole keeled over, bent in pain. "Crap. This was a bad idea, wasn't it?"

She nodded weakly. "… yeah…" she gasped for air. "I… I think I'm going to puke…"

The digimon watching over them just shook his head. "I said semi contact, not full contact."


	181. Boom Bubble SPIT!

A/N: Inspired by the Boom Bubble Tag scene from Chapter 9 of Disconnect. Also, since I don't really write in sound effects in that story, but clearly Patamon yells 'Pah!' in the dub, so...

* * *

"Come on, I'm sure you can do it!" Patamon smiled brightly. "You can use air, right?"

Sora frowned. Yes, she could use air, but there was a difference between having the ability to control it and blowing air out of her mouth with the force that Patamon wanted her to…

"So just copy me," the digimon turned to face the target specialized for work with air. "Boom Bubble… PAH!"

On the 'pah', the burst of air flew and hit the target neatly in the center, the parting of its bristles the only sign it had been hit.

Sora grimaced. "I'm not really sure about this…"

"Just try!"

"Okay…"

She gazed at the target before her, took a deep breath, mentally took hold of the air in her lungs…

"Boom Bubble… PAH – eurgh!"

Patamon stared. "That's… never happened to me before…"

Sora winced and proceeded to wipe all the spittle from her face. "I would hope not," she answered, debating on whether she should clean her hand off on her shirt or pants. "Ugh, this is gross…"

A second later, she decided a towel might do the job a little better.


	182. Mine

A/N: Honestly, if ever put in this situation, I'd be pretty pissed too.

* * *

The first explosion shocked them all.

They thought that something was attacking. A quick survey told them of no other signs of life. It was nothing out of the ordinary. Just a fluke.

The second explosion made them realize that something was very, very wrong.

By the time the third explosion came around and several people nearly had their eardrums blown out, they knew exactly what was going on.

Mimi very irritably went through the motions with her Digigear while the others recovered. "Izzy, pick up. Now."

To his credit, he did.

"Mimi, how is everything? Is your patrol going well?"

"You sent us into a mine field."

Silence.

"… so I did…"

Mimi huffed. "Yes. We like having all the information about patrol routes during our briefings or before we like, you know, actually go on them. So we don't blow ourselves up because we _don't know there's mines under our feet_."

"Look, I'm really sorry, I completely missed that part and forgot to tell you, you can abort - "

"No, we're not going to abort, as we've already set off three mines and no one's actually hurt," Mimi replied, realizing she was sounding a little sickeningly sweet. "We can handle the mine field. I just thought I'd let you know."

She ended the connection before Izzy could say anything.

The others, who had been watching her, winced a bit.

"Wasn't that a bit harsh?" Togemon asked.

"He deserved it," Mimi answered brusquely.


	183. Labeling

A/N: I... I got this idea, and it was just too precious not to write. Also a minor humorous release from writing Disconnect. And before anyone says anything about too many duplicates, they aren't all the same type of vial in each group. Anyway...

* * *

"Izzy, you okay?"

The boy in question paused, looking up from where he stood over a desk with a permanent marker in hand. "I'm fine, why do you ask?"

Tai and Cody glanced at each other briefly.

"Well, you've been in here for almost three days straight," Tai remarked, shuffling a little. "Even Tentomon was starting to get worried.

Izzy sighed. "It's just… there's so much to do…"

"Then, is there anything we can do to help?" Cody asked. "I mean, we care about your sanity you know."

Izzy shook his head. "No, I'm okay… actually," he quickly changed, looking thoughtful. "You _can_ help me. That'd be really great."

Tai and Cody smiled at him.

"Great! So what do we do - "

They were met with Izzy giving them both permanent markers.

"Start from here and go down, the vials are all clumped together in groups based on time point. Label them T-0, T-1, and so on until you reach the end."

The two other boys glanced at the entire counter and felt something of a sense of doom.

"… that's a lot of vials…" Cody commented rather dazedly.

"Yeah, I know," Izzy replied cheerfully, picking one of them up and writing T-1 on the side. "Twenty vials per treatment per time point, fifty time points, it takes a while you know. I already wrote the treatment and site number on all of them, but I hadn't put time points on them yet, so here I am doing that. I'm mostly done with sorting and labeling everything else, it's all weighed out to account for any loss of mass too."

They gaped at him incredulously.

"Labeling? _Labeling_?" Tai flung his hands up in the air.

Izzy looked incredibly casual and nonchalant about it. "Well yeah, what else do you think I've been doing here the last three days?"

Tai growled. "Okay then, we're getting the whole cavalry in here to help out. Seriously, I'm surprised you haven't _already_ gone insane."


	184. Kari's solution

A/N: Takes place towards beginning of the stay in the Digiworld. I had this idea a while back and was thinking of using it in Formatting... well, I think it does well here. ^^)

* * *

"We need to do something."

Kari and Mimi glanced up at Sora, who had an exasperated look on her face.

"What's wrong?"

Sora sighed and held her head. "Cody. I know that boy is trying to be independent and mature, but sometimes he just overdoes it. Right now he's not being mature, he's just being stubborn. There has to be some way for us to make him… I don't know, act less ridiculous."

Kari looked at Mimi. Mimi looked back at her.

"Well…" Kari began.

Roughly two hours later, the announcement went out on everyone's Digigear.

"Guys, this is Cody. _Who sprinkled my entire room with glitter?_"


	185. Glitter Cleanup

A/N: Follow up to the last one.

* * *

Cody sighed, running his hands through his brown hair in relief. "Thanks a lot guys, this really helps me."

"No problem," Matt replied as he focused on lifting every speck of glitter up and into the small pile in the dustpan. The task was useful in that it both gave him a chance to practice using his crest power while also helping Cody at the same time.

The younger boy still had a troubled look on his face.

"This is strange… whoever did this…"

"Had access to glitter," Nicole finished, directing some shimmering specks from Cody's bedspread to the dustpan. "I can't tell you _why_ anyone would have glitter though…"

Matt inwardly smirked. Of course she couldn't tell Cody why. Sora had asked her not to. On that note, he couldn't either.

At least Kari's solution had worked this one time. Matt wasn't sure exactly how Cody had started developing the idea that he had to be independent and rely on primarily himself for most things – it wasn't a bad trait, but he was starting to overdo it. The glitter was apparently so well applied to everything that the boy had given up trying to clean it by himself.

"All right, done," Nicole announced, brushing off her hands and standing proudly over the dustpan. She leaned over to inspect it. "One dustpan filled with glitter. There's some dust and lint in there too."

"Sloppy, much?" Matt teased her. "Instead of just glitter, you pick other stuff too?"

"Meh. It's all going in the trash anyway."

"And you're wasting all that glitter? Aren't you the one who tells us to conserve everything?"

Cody had a thoughtful look on his face, crossing his arms as he peered at the dustpan.

"Actually, take all the dust and lint out. I'm going to save this glitter."

Matt and Nicole looked at him.

"Planning on getting back at someone?" Matt asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

Cody nodded. "Yeah. I know you two didn't do it," he nodded at them, "But I think it'd proper to, you know… _return_ this glitter to whoever it came from…"


	186. Incriminating Evidence

A/N: And followup to the last one. Right now, part three of five. ^^

* * *

**Kari, Mimi, Sora, warning. Cody's determined to figure out who filled his room with glitter. Get rid of all evidence **_**now**_**.**

All three girls heard the psychic message at the same time. Thankfully, they happened to be in the same room.

Kari immediately blanched. "The glitter bottle…"

"We already threw it away though," Mimi shrugged as she picked up a shoe. "Why is this down here…"

Sora shook her head, understanding immediately. "We threw it away in a trash can. That's one of the first places anyone investigating is going to look."

It dawned on Mimi, and she paled as she dropped the shoe back into the pile.

"Oh no… which trash can…?"

"I think it was the one down the hall…"

"Check your digivices, we have to make sure he's not coming upstairs - "

"You can't tell who is who on those! Use the Digigears!"

"We have to get that bottle - "

Mimi quickly stood and swept silently out of the room. She was back in a few seconds, holding an empty bottle with glitter remnants and trying to breathe as quietly as possible.

Sora and Kari blinked at her. "Well that takes care of that," Sora commented, sighing in relief. "Good thing for your ninja training."

Kari relaxed, though she still looked hesitant. "So we have the bottle. Now what?"

"We get rid of it, of course," Mimi replied, finally letting her breath out now that she didn't have to worry about sneaking through the halls. "Without leaving a trace or without Cody realizing it, of course."

"The only thing is…" Sora began, staring at the bottle in Mimi's hand.

They all gazed at it for a moment, the innocent plastic bottle that was so incriminating.

"How?"


	187. The Song He Wrote

A/N: Inspired by... actually, inspired by Hoobastank's "Inside of You". I was listening to their acoustic album for the first time while at work, hadn't heard this song before, and went, "Huh, pretty catchy tune... wait, _what are they saying_?" It was just unexpected for me considering all the other music I'd heard from them. My funny story for exactly how I got into Hoobastank some... I think eight, nine years ago will be saved for the blog.

Takes place likely somewhere during Formatting. And definitely Sorato.

* * *

Matt wasn't really sure what to do. On one hand, he really liked the beat and the sound of the song he had written. On the other hand, the lyrics were much more suggestive than how he usually wrote them, and the entire song was different from his usual style anyway. He wasn't even sure why he had written it. It just kind of… had to be penned down.

So he had, and for the most part he left it shoved away in some drawer in his room. Right now though, he had taken it back out and was sitting on the floor with his guitar, staring at the sheets and wondering exactly how he was supposed to reconcile this. He wanted to hear it done well, full band and everything. Against his better judgment, he wanted to be the one to sing it, rather than assigning Tai or TK as the lead singer.

Really, why was he so hesitant to share it?

"Dude, new music?"

He yelped as the sheets were pinched from his hands. "Hey! Give those back!" he glared at Tai, who to his horror was already reading them. _Damn it, I always let my guard down when we're home, didn't even notice him sneaking up on me…_

He was about to grab them back via crest power, but Tai was apparently a much faster reader than Matt gave him credit for. The boy's eyes widened as he stared at the page, mouthing a few words… and then he burst out laughing.

"Wow, I'm impressed," he grinned, handing the sheets back. "So is this our next song then?"

"No," Matt replied flatly as he took them back. "I don't even know why I wrote it."

Tai got a crafty smirk on his face. "Oh, I know exactly why you wrote it," he said with a light tilt to his voice.

Matt glared in response. "Shut up."

Tai shrugged and crossed his arms. "Well, what's it sound like?" At Matt's blank gaze, he rolled his eyes. "Come on, you're not gonna' have a song out and leave me hanging, right?"

"We're not singing it," Matt answered as he shuffled the sheets into a pile and moved to go shove them back in his desk. They could sit there for eternity for all he cared at this point.

Except that TK passed by his room at that exact moment.

"New music? Awesome!" he cheered as he entered, smiling. "So who gets to sing it?"

"No one. We're not singing it," Matt said, though in a much less exasperated voice than he would have with Tai. TK didn't deserve quite that treatment yet.

TK blinked, then glanced at Tai, who still had that stupid smirk on his face.

"He's embarrassed 'cuz the lyrics aren't ballad-like and longing and all, 'I wanna be with you my love' - "

Matt had half a mind to throw his shoe at his best friend's face.

Before he quite knew what was going on, TK was right next to him and leaning over to read the papers he had in his hand.

"No!" Matt jerked away. "We aren't singing this - "

He suddenly realized that the sheets were no longer in his hand and TK was back next to Tai, reading over his song with wide, slightly surprised eyes. He inwardly cursed. He'd forgotten just how fast his brother was.

Somehow though, he wasn't too horribly angry that they were forcibly reading over his song. He did, after all, want to hear it as full arrangement in the band, and he'd put the effort into writing it, it might be kind of nice to share it…

He guessed they were far enough down that he couldn't stop them at this point. With a pained grimace, he sat back down on the floor, guitar and all, to await judgment.

TK didn't laugh, but he did look very amused. "Wow," he said with a slightly goofy grin, "Didn't really expect this from you. It's not bad though… what's the song itself sound like?"

Matt glanced over at Tai, then back at TK. Both boys were looking at him expectantly.

With a sigh, he moved his guitar into place and began playing. He knew the chord progression, but even he hadn't memorized the words, so he hummed the melody as he strummed away. It was just the bare bones of the song anyway, and that was most important right now.

He finished with the chorus, then shrugged and stopped. "That's the gist of it."

To his absolute horror, he suddenly realized that both Joe and Sora now had their heads poked through the doorway, clearly interested. He felt his stomach freeze a little as both people let themselves into his room.

"Uh, hi, Joe, Sora," he said, swallowing a lump in his throat.

Sora raised an eyebrow, while Joe seemed more interested in what Matt had been playing. "The song's really catchy," he stated with an intrigued look. Both TK and Tai nodded in concurrence. "What're the lyrics?"

TK handed him the sheets. Matt felt completely mortified as Sora leaned over to look too.

"We're not singing it," he repeated again, reaching forward with the energy of his crest power to take the sheets back, but somehow Sora's eyes told him to stay put. He didn't know what was better any more, Sora's wrath if he took the music away, or Sora's wrath when she read the lyrics…

Tai was looking back and forth between Matt and Sora as though he had reached an epiphany of some sorts. He suddenly got a very devious grin on his face. "Oh, I see… I see why you're so embarrassed about this now…"

Matt didn't even wait to see Sora's reaction. Joe already looked fairly shocked, and he was sure Sora would be the same way or worse.

"… I'm gonna go hide in a corner now," he mumbled as he stood and moved to go do said statement. He ended up settling with sitting on his bed, removing his guitar strap and setting the instrument beside him.

_Why did I decide to take it out to look at today, why did I even write the damn thing…_

Someone was standing over him. He blinked and looked up to see Sora there, gazing at him with even eyes. He smiled weakly.

Her expression didn't change. However, she did grab him by the collar and pull him up towards her.

He went along with it, not really having a choice. A moment later, he was standing again, though with his head pulled forward so that he was slightly bent and their faces very close. He could smell the cherry scent on her.

"So, that song you wrote…" she began in a conversational tone.

"Y-yeah?"

For a moment, she still seemed expressionless. Then she suddenly gave him a seductive smile.

"I like it," she spoke, pulling his head forward so that she was breathing into his ear. "Catchy, and the lyrics are tasteful. I think it's a very sexy song."

Then she winked and released him, gently brushing a finger across his lips as she retreated.

Matt sat there gaping as she walked away and back out of the room with a slight sway in her step. He wasn't quite sure what to make of what had just happened, but she liked it… she wasn't mad, she liked it, she thought it was a sexy song…

"I love my girlfriend," he said dreamily.

The others in the room had watched the entire scene with a great amount of amusement. Tai in particular had a ridiculous grin on his face.

"Well, you heard the girl. This'll be our next song, yes?" he nodded confidently.

Matt was still too dazed to say anything of real note. "Did I mention that I love my girlfriend?"

TK chuckled and moved forward to bring his brother back to the present. "Yes, you did. Well come on, we've got some work to do on this. Don't wanna' disappoint her, right?"


	188. Turtle

A/N: Um... yeah. Probably takes place somewhere within the first half of the group's stay in the Digiworld...

* * *

Joe knocked on the door to Matt's studio, knowing that Matt himself was visiting his parents and was not actually inside. There was someone else that he was looking for, and he knew that she had been there ever since Matt had left.

He didn't hear anything, so let himself in. "Hey Nicole, I need to talk – Nicole?"

Nicole was curled up on the ground in a fetal position amongst a giant mess of wires, cables, and what looked like metal sheeting. And her body was shaking as though in convulsions.

He was beside her immediately. "Nicole? Nicole – oh dear…"

The girl was caught in a mad fit of giggles, her mouth twisted up in a huge grin as she gasped for air.

"Turtle!" she squealed in a strange throaty voice. "_Tuuuurtlllle!"_

Joe stared.

Then he saw the small wrench clamped in her hand, the many various tools also strewn around her, and deduced exactly what was going on.

"Okay, Nicole," he gently rolled her over and pushed her into a sitting position. "Breathe, relax, let's go do something completely different…"

She managed one good breath, looked at him, then back at one of the bundles of wires… and burst out laughing again.

"_Turtle!_"

Joe only shook his head in disbelief. "What in the world were you trying to do?"

Nicole fell forward flat on her face as she gasped again for air. "Trying – to set up – thing – for Matt," she managed between giggles. Then let out a large pained moan. "Oh Mew, what is wrong with me…"

"What's wrong with you," Joe said sternly, "is that you're driving yourself insane. Not that you weren't already insane to begin with, but this is just pushing it. So we are going to now leave this room and take a nice relaxing walk to the lake, outside, in the sun. Maybe we'll get you some food too."

He helped her stagger out of the room, knowing that his conversation was going to have to wait.

_And I need to talk to Matt when he gets back…_


	189. Refrigerator

"I feel like blowing up a refrigerator."

Those present at the dining table all turned to stare at the speaker.

Tai blinked back. "What? I do."

"How did you want to blow it up?" Sora asked as she casually poked a piece of tofu on her plate. "Explosives, chemicals, crest power…"

"Doesn't really matter. It just needs to be done… y'know," Tai shrugged helplessly.

"And you're the one who has to do it," Kari nodded at her brother.

Izzy scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well," he began, a pensive look on his face, "it wouldn't really be that difficult. A Digiworld junkyard might have what we're looking for…"

An hour later found all of them standing in a junkyard a fairly safe distance away from a single lone refrigerator.

Tai had a particularly devious look on his face as he held the detonator in his hand. "This is awesome," he grinned. "Destroying household appliances."

"No kidding, right?" Matt replied, standing next to him. "We've all wanted to kick them at some point."

"I still think blowing them up is a little extreme," Joe piped up, though even he seemed excited to see what was about to occur.

"That's why we're using an old broken one beyond hope, instead of a new one."

"… true. That does make me feel a little better about this."

Behind them all, TK just shook his head, wondering exactly what had went wrong.

_Tai wanting to blow up a fridge? That's normal. The fact that everyone almost immediately helped him do it… either we've all been really stressed lately, or we've gone insane. Or both._


	190. Fear

A/N: This was born of the internal thought processes of a particular character during the writing of Disconnect Chapter 15. Let's just say that I've had the images of this floating around for a while, so that plus the writing finally brought this into being. Takes place either late in Crystal War or any time after. Sorato. And serious.

* * *

Every time she went on an especially dangerous mission, he was afraid.

The future was normally clear when he wished, but for this he could never see it. He knew his fear clouded the vision, but he could never fully banish it and was left with the pure anxiety and terror that she might never come back. She was his everything, and he couldn't bear to think about what the world would be like without her presence in it.

He worried about everyone, really; they were his family, and the idea of having his family broken again was something he never wanted to experience. But it was her – she had always been strong, but she showed him her weakness, and in return, he did the same with her. No matter what obstacles came their way, they had always managed to pull through them, their bond stronger than before.

He was still afraid for her.

"You're going?"

Sora nodded, her flight helmet and goggles tucked under her arm, sword strapped to her back, her outfit saying she was ready for battle.

"I don't know when we'll be back… a few weeks at least, and I have to be off the grid on this one, I wish I could keep you updated on everything, but - "

He placed a finger on her lips, smiling sadly. "I know. We've talked about this… it'll be fine. We're connected, remember?"

She looked down for a moment and closed her eyes.

"I know."

He pulled her into an embrace, holding her close. She returned it, and for a few moments, she was all that existed, just her presence, her warmth, her scent, her breath, just her. He had her, no matter how far away or how many worlds apart they might be.

He could feel her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and almost instinctively, he started running his hand through her hair. He never wanted to let her go, because to let her go would mean to let her go away on this mission, where she would be fighting and be constantly in danger. It didn't matter that was a capable warrior and a teammate he would trust his life with in battle; right now they were two people about to part, with the despairing potential that they might never meet again…

As if to mock him, his fingers touched a smooth, taut groove on her neck.

Sora stiffened, but otherwise said nothing. He was only filled with the guilt of that day and the unimaginable terror of those moments. It had been too close.

And he was still letting her go.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, his head falling forward as he pulled her even closer.

"Don't be," she whispered back, and she held her hand on his to the scar.

It didn't matter how many times this happened. The scar was the reminder of reality and what they faced, and every time Sora left on a mission like this one, he would be left with that memory and what could have happened. He never knew if he wanted this future to appear to him – the confirmation of her death or survival. He was afraid to know.

But this wasn't the future. This was the now, and she was what existed.

They shared one, deep kiss before parting, and he stepped away, gazing over her and telling himself that he had faith in her. She was a teammate, a warrior, a leader. A Digidestined.

"Stay safe. I love you."

"I love you too Matt. Take care… and good luck."

Biyomon was waiting. He would believe in their strength and return, while he dealt with his own missions. He would keep fighting and living, knowing that somewhere in the world, Sora was doing the same for him. She will come back, he told himself as he watched her go. She will.

It still never stopped the fear.


	191. Give me back my pants!

A/N: TK is apparently rather good at this game.

* * *

Davis was not happy.

"Seriously. Why?"

"Because you lost that round," TK replied, utterly failing at hiding the smirk on his face.

"You could have asked for anything else on me. _Anything. _And you chose my _pants_."

"I could've taken your boxers."

Davis turned bright red; he could hear the girls giggling at the entire exchange, and he sincerely wondered why he had agreed to this game.

"Okay, fine, whatev. I'm gonna' win this next round and take _yours_."

"What, you don't want your own back?"

"Fair is fair. If I have to go pantsless, so do you."

He heard a snigger from the side, and turned to where Ken and Cody were both busy trying hard not to laugh. He glared at both of them, which did absolutely nothing to ease their clear amusement at his misfortune.

One round later, he was even more irritated.

"Okay Kari, I know you're carrying a pack of gum. Mine now."

Davis slammed his hand down on the floor. "Wait a minute! Kari loses and she gives you a pack of gum, but I lose and you take my pants?"

TK shrugged and shuffled the cards. "I couldn't very well take hers."

"Hey look, I'm fine with you taking people's pants as long as I'm not the only one. And if we're not doing that, then I'm trading goggles for the pants, how about that?"

"No."

"What?"

"Not an equal trade."

"They're the goggles. The goggles!"

"Nope. Not budging."

"Dammit TK! _Give me back my pants!_"


	192. Davis' Victory

A/N: Very short follow-up.

* * *

The door was open a crack, so Matt had no problem letting himself into his brother's room. He knocked on it just for good measure though. "Hey TK, do you have - "

He stopped at the sight of the entire younger team sitting in a circle on the floor. Playing cards. No pants. Even the girls.

They looked up at him casually. He just stared at everything.

"Hi Matt," TK waved cheerily. Davis also had a particularly victorious look on his face.

Matt blinked.

"…what."

* * *

A/N: Though to be honest, Matt would probably do exactly what his brother did to Davis with Tai. o.O


	193. Pokemon vs Digimon

A/N: Inspired by a picture I drew a couple years ago of Charizard and Agumon attacking a chicken. Erm...

* * *

The pair sat there glaring at each other. Charizard and Greymon. Pokémon and digimon. Fire and fire.

"So it's come to this," Charizard growled, a tongue of flame wisping out between his fangs.

Greymon's glare narrowed. "I make good on my challenges."

"And I accept them."

The blazing tension heated the air, the two standing in ready stances with the setting sun casting shadows on their muscled figures. Both were there, waiting. Waiting for the moment their battle would begin.

Spectators stood on the sidelines watching them. Everyone knew the legendary status of this match, the history it would make amongst them. It would be settled. It all rested on the determination of these two competitors as they tested their skills against one another.

Teeth at the ready. Legs poised. Claws outstretched. Eyes glinting.

The sound of a whistle broke the air.

And they lunged at the two humongous piles of food sitting before them.

"SNARFLE GRAGH GOBBLE MUNCH OARM CRUNCH - "

"OMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM - "

"See, Greymon's doing good," Tai pointed out.

Nicole dropped the whistle back where it hung around her neck. "My money's still on Charizard. He was the master, after all."

"But Greymon's digivolved, he eats way more as a Champion than as a Rookie."

"You _know_ how much Charizard eats. Why else do you think I cook in mass proportions?"

"That's why your cooking _sucks_. And you always dump in tons of peppers and jalapenos and cayenne powder even when it's unnecessary."

Nicole scowled.

"Come on Charizard! Kick his ass!" she called on to the pokémon.

"Don't let him beat you Greymon!" Tai shouted back to his partner. "Show him what a digimon can do!"


	194. Newbie Hunter

A/N: Uh, I don't actually know why I wrote this. No offense intended to deer hunters or anyone who hunts, Matt just finds the entire thing beyond his comfort zone. I doubt the humans regularly kill large game.

* * *

Matt had only walked into Nicole's studio intending to ask her to jam with him and some of the others. Instead, he found her sitting on the floor next to a freshly killed deer with a book and a skinning knife in her hand.

"… what is this?" he asked cautiously.

She didn't look up at him, too focused on the dead animal before her. "Trying to skin it."

He stared.

"… and, uh, why are you trying to skin it?"

She turned a page in the book, peering at it carefully for directions of some sort. "I think it's a useful skill one should learn. Don't worry, I was very humane with the deer and it's already field dressed. Oh, I'm supposed to hang it."

He blinked twice. Then he shook his head and turned straight around to walk out. _I don't even._


	195. Lost Notes

A/N: Been a while, huh? I'm trying to get back into the writing habit after a lovely hiatus, so there may be more of these now. Wish me luck.

Part one of two, and based very loosely off of something that happened to me at work. Takes place during the Borderline era or later... likely a bit later. Gomamon is respectful of Joe's important stuff.

* * *

Izzy and Cody were trying to teach themselves how to play some digimon version of mahjong when Joe burst into the room, breathing hard and looking flustered.

"Have you guys seen my old Biochem lecture notes?" he panted. "The ones I had to take by hand and then made more notes on when I visited the Rejulmon lab?"

The two boys looked at each other.

"Weren't those from like, two years ago?" Cody commented.

"By Digiworld standards, yes," Joe nodded, grimacing. "But there's an exam that I need to study for and that material's on it. Plus Rejulmon asked if I still had those notes."

Izzy felt a bit sorry for his friend. He understood where Joe was coming from, but somehow he wasn't surprised that the normally organized young man had lost them. After all, two years and very large numbers of notes became buried rather quickly.

"Where did you last see them?" he asked.

Joe made a resigned face. "In the file cabinet next to my desk. I usually put old notes there, but I already checked the entire thing, they're not in there. They're not in my desk either, or stuffed in any of my notebooks from my classes. I also checked the other cabinets in the labs, my spot in the library, anywhere I would keep notes, Gomamon doesn't touch them when he pranks, I don't know where they would be..."

Cody turned over a mahjong piece, apparently making some decision on something so he wouldn't lose his train of thought on the game. "Well if it's important, then I'm sure you'll find it safely somewhere," he answered empathetically. "It's not like there's been a lot of destruction around the house lately."

"Good point," Joe sighed. "Well, I'll just keep looking. Hope Rejulmon can hold off for a while… and I can always email a classmate I guess."

He shrugged and waved as he turned to leave. "Thanks though. Sorry for the intrusion."

"It's nothing to worry about," Izzy replied, waving back. "We're not quite sure if we're doing this correctly or not anyway."

Joe chuckled. "Well, good luck on figuring it out. It's for that mission at the Vairek underworld, right?"

Both boys cringed.

"Diplomacy down there at its finest," Izzy shook his head. "Violence and gambling via old games of strategy."

"We all have the violence part down at least," Joe said helpfully. Izzy just rubbed his head. "Well, have fun… let me know how that goes."

Cody gave a weak laugh. "All right. And good luck on finding your notes. Keep us updated."

"Will do," Joe called as he slid out the door.

Izzy picked up the piece of paper they had been using as a guide for their game, hoping that Joe had more luck than they did. At least his situation seemed much safer than theirs…


	196. Found them!

A/N: Follow-up. May turn into a trio.

* * *

It was an hour later and Izzy and Cody were no closer to mastering any aspect of this game. Izzy was beginning to feel very stupid, and Cody had suggested calling Ken for help.

Then their digigears buzzed. "Guys, I found them!"

Both jumped and tuned into the caller. "That's great Joe!" Cody exclaimed. "Where were they?"

Joe replied with a slightly pathetic chuckle.

"In my closet. In a large cardboard box filled with folders and labeled, 'Joe's Old Notes, Potentially Important'. In my handwriting. With a duct tape label."

Cody and Izzy looked at each other, and began laughing.

"Didn't you say you usually put old notes in your filing cabinet?" Cody smiled, dropping the mahjong tile on the board.

"Yeah… apparently it was really full and I thought the potentially important ones should be kept separate."

"In your closet," Izzy said.

"In my closet."

"Good job."

"Thanks. Any luck on your end?"

Izzy let out a frustrated groan, while Cody sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Not so much."

"We're about to call Ken for help."

"He's with Yolei and their partners out at Miro today," Joe said helpfully. "I think it might have been a date. They aren't coming back until tomorrow."

Izzy found that he somehow didn't care. He was a little too irritated at this game.

"Mission takes higher priority over date," he stated firmly. "I'm calling him."


	197. Stupid Rules

A/N: Last one. Thankfully, no 'Wrath of Yolei' to deal with for cutting the date short.

* * *

"Ah, looks like it's a straightforward dice roll choice here," Ken exclaimed, moving the tile. "Then you flip the tile sideways and depending on location you can control a different tile belonging to the other player."

"Which one?" Izzy asked with growing urgency.

"This one," Ken pointed at a tile on the other end of the board. "If I have this rule correct, that is."

"I checked it over, I think you have it right," Yolei replied, jotting down some more notes on her pad. "So that explains everything with Rule 213 on the original sheet."

Cody just sat there staring and shaking his head in disbelief at the entire situation. The table was a mess of tiles, paper sheets, and various random items that he never would have associated with traditional mahjong. Like the many different kinds of dice, multicolored marbles, some rubber bands, and a tea bag.

"This is nothing like mahjong," he stated as the others pored over the notes.

Wormmon picked up the tea bag. "It probably was at one point," he mused. "But rules change over time."

"Or over gamblers trying to get the upper hand," Cody grimaced.

"Eh," Yolei shrugged as Hawkmon arrived in the room with what looked like a desk lamp and a cinnamon shaker. "I'm pretty sure the huge number of rules and exceptions are just to confuse players for penalties and such. Who could remember all this junk anyway?"

"You'd be surprised," Hawkmon supplied, depositing the lamp and shaker on the table. Then he hopped up onto a chair to view the board. "Some digimon have excellent memories."

"Or maybe they just make up stupid rules on the spot to mess with us," Cody muttered irritably.


	198. Joe Demon-Eyes

A/N: I'm... really not sure what suddenly inspired me to write this, though I will say the background comes from an anecdote I heard some years back. Folks, be careful when you go diving. This drabble likely takes place closer to Formatting era than later.

* * *

Tai was the only one still awake when Joe and Gomamon made it back after their mission, so he happily went to both greet and congratulate them on a job well done.

"Joe, Gomamon! You finally made it back from your mission! You were gone longer than we – GAH!"

Joe grimaced and rubbed his head. "Yeah. About that. It's fine, and it'll only last a few weeks."

Tai's face was painted with horrified and shocked disgust.

"Your eyes are _blood red_. Everything in there that's supposed to be white. They're _blood red_."

"Maybe because they're actually bleeding?" Gomamon said helpfully. Joe groaned.

Tai had never seen anything quite like it before, and despite having witnessed his companions injured and mauled in rather horrible and unspeakable ways, the view of a human's eye being practically dyed with red gave him a slightly unsettled feeling. Maybe it _had_ actually happened before, but Kari had come over to heal the person before anyone could see… that.

"I had a diving accident," Joe stated, sounding tired and exasperated. "There was a pressure imbalance and blood vessels in my eyes burst. That is why they are red. Other than that I'm completely fine and it'll go away just like a bruise does, depending on how quickly my metabolism will allow it to heal. I do not have demonic eyes, nor am I a _demon child_ that must have the evil spirit exorcised, despite what all those Gazimon insisted upon and hence why I got back several hours later than anticipated. I'm _fine_, Tai," he repeated at Tai's open mouth.

"You sure? We could wake Kari up and get her to fix that for you," the younger boy suggested tentatively.

"It can wait until morning."

Tai was still staring.

"You know this is basically just like when you get a bruise on your arm, right?"

"So your eyes are going to look greenish-brown in a few days?"

"Probably."

Tai blinked.

"… okay, you're the medic. So we'll let you sleep, but Kari's fixing you up first thing in the morning."

"That would be great," Joe nodded, releasing a sigh.

"Do you want that mission debrief now, or are you gonna just go to bed?"

Joe glared at him. He looked very intimidating with those blood-red eyes.

"They sort of are demon eyes," Tai said before he could stop himself.

"See, I told you Joe," Gomamon piped in. "If an entire village of Gazimon and now even Tai say it, it's true!"

Joe shook his head and picked up his partner. "Debrief after getting this fixed by Kari tomorrow, and I'll write something short up before going to bed. Night."

Tai gave a little wave. "Joe Demon-Eyes…" he mused.

"Good _night!_"


	199. They are not demon eyes!

A/N: Follow-up, second of three. Takes place the next morning. Clearly, Nicole likes making fun of Joe.

* * *

"Hail ye, demon of the deep sea risen above in all his glory!" Nicole exclaimed reverently as she fell to her knees to prostrate herself before Joe.

Joe stared at her. Then he turned to Tai, sitting at the kitchen table with a large grin on his face.

"You," he pointed. "You put her up to this."

Tai shrugged. "She put herself up to this. I just told her you had a diving accident and your eyes were all blood red. Nothing about your demon eyes. We just came to the same conclusion."

"They are not demon eyes!"

"We are not worthy, oh great and powerful one!" Nicole intoned as she bowed up and down in continuous glorification. "Teach us your unholy ways, Joe Demon-Eyes, enlighten us poor mortals with your sacrilegious knowledge!"

"Stop that," Joe said evenly.

"Yes your Eminence!" she sprung up to her feet. Even her ridiculous acting could not hide the huge grin she had plastered across her face.

She then grabbed a magazine from the stack on the counter, fluffed open the pages, and began fanning him with it. Joe facepalmed.

"Is Kari up yet?" he turned to ask Tai.

Tai shrugged. "Dunno. We're just up early 'cuz we wanted to go running before it got too hot out."

"I thought as much," Joe answered dryly. Both Tai and Nicole were still in their running gear and slightly sweaty, plus there were three glasses of water on the table. "Who else went with you?"

"Ken. Didn't you pass him on the way down? He already went up to shower."

"I guess he was already up there. I thought I heard a shower on."

"Coffee, your Unholiness?"

Joe cast an aside towards Nicole, who had abandoned the magazine fan and now held up a half full coffeepot. "Uh… sure?" Then his eyes narrowed. "_You_ had better not have had any of this."

"Nah, it was for me," Tai yawned. "How else was I supposed to get up early? If you don't want any, I'll take some. Pour me some more, Nicole."

She saluted. "Sir!"

Joe blinked at both of them as she went to retrieve what had apparently been Tai's mug. "You get 'Sir', and I get 'Your Unholiness'?"

Tai shrugged nonchalantly. "Hey, I am the leader here."

"What I wouldn't give to just get 'Sempai'."

"Doesn't work, we're the same grade remember?" Nicole grinned as she poured the coffee and brought it back to the table. "Here go Tai. Joe, want anything in yours?"

Joe shook his head. "No thanks. Hey, you stopped with the demon thing."

"You stopped being funny," she shrugged. "I can start it up again if you want."

"_No_."

"Okay then… demon-eyes."

Joe was almost grateful that the current state of his eyes made him look frightening whenever he glared.


	200. Lord of the Ocean Underworld

A/N: Final part of the Joe Demon-Eyes set. I'm hoping to upload something large next week, so here's hoping... *crosses fingers*

And gasp! This is drabble 200! It feels a bit momentous... yet I have nothing particularly momentous for the occasion XD

* * *

"I'm kind of surprised that you didn't wake me up last night," Kari commented, peering up to examine his eyes. Joe had taken off his glasses to make it easier for her. "I wouldn't have minded, you didn't have to wait until I got up."

He shrugged. "It's not like this was life threatening."

"You just had to deal with the demon-eyes joke going around all morning."

Joe released a long sigh, wondering why he did allow himself to be messed with in such a manner. "Considering both Tai and Nicole, it probably wouldn't have been much of a difference."

"It would've lost the impact though," Kari replied with a small tilt of her head.

"Yeah, not nearly as funny if people can't see if for themselves," Tai chimed in from the corner.

Joe wasn't really sure why Tai was still there so many hours later. Nicole had already showered and was probably checking in on her team. Tai had elected to go jump in the lake with Agumon and still had yet to take a real shower. Maybe their leader was slightly more concerned than he let on.

"I dunno," Matt shrugged, poking at the piece of bacon on his plate as Kari continued to inspect Joe's eyes. "It's a little more worrisome than funny."

Matt was probably a little concerned too.

"Come on though, you gotta admit they're sorta demon eyes," Tai waved a hand at him.

Matt leaned in, and his eyes briefly gave off a light blue glow. "Technically, Nicole and I should be the 'demon eyes' people since this actually happens to us when we're exerting a lot of power."

Tai snorted. "But that's not demon eyes. That's psychic eyes," he argued back.

"Okay, I can do this," Kari announced as she straightened. "Joe, open your eyes wide for me."

"Finally," Joe sighed in relief. He did as she asked, hoping that all the red was visible to her. _Never again, never again will I mess up like that again while diving, what with all the other dangers that come with, though this is pretty harmless compared to the bends or something. _

Kari let a warm pink light surround her left hand. Even with his severely blurred vision, Joe could see Tai and Matt watching with amused interest as the light pulsed - her way of checking to make sure her control was stable. She took a breath, held up the hand with a focused look on her face…

And then she suddenly held up her camera.

Click!

Joe blinked in surprise and stared at her.

"You did not."

The two boys behind her were both grinning. She giggled as she pocketed the camera. "I had to before I healed you. Now…"

"Kari!" he protested as her light flowed into him. There was a gentle warmth in his eyes, his vision was blinded by white for a moment, and then it faded back to the view of the kitchen.

"All done," she said cheerfully. Joe put his glasses back on and sighed.

"Thanks," he replied, unsure if he should sound grateful for the healing or annoyed that she now had blackmail material. "My eyes are really okay now, right?"

"Yes," all three answered.

He still didn't quite trust them. With a turn of his hand, he grabbed a black pan off the counter, summoned a pool of water into it, and willed it to become as still as possible. Then opened his eyes wide and gazed at his reflection.

"Really Joe?" Matt asked, sounding amused. "You don't trust us?"

"After all the 'Demon Eyes' comments? No," he stated bluntly. He felt relief at the definite white circling his irises. "Phew, they're normal again. Thanks Kari."

"No problem!" she chirped.

"And please delete that photo."

"No way! We have to remember this somehow!" Tai exclaimed, holding both arms out to the side in an awed pose. "Joe Kido, Demon-Eyes, Lord of the Ocean Underworld…"

Joe gave up. Some battles simply could not be won.


	201. Let's Go Home

A/N: This is what happens when you listen to very epic final boss themes and read a page of a very tragic Pokemon Nuzlocke run comic. Somehow. Anyway, this is an actual scene from one of the stories, though perhaps not how it will be written whenever I get there. It'll likely also change. Think of this as an early version. No spoilers for who the characters are though.

* * *

Sometimes, all they wanted to do was destroy.

Constant battles, damaged ruins, lost lives, everything sacrificed for one final plan. Then helplessness, despair, insanity, grief, a last hope – all they could do was endure. Not survive. Endure. A soul could emerge triumphant, but given a release in the flames.

For them, as they watched the once towering fortress engulfed in smoke and roaring fire, that release was the end of one long, torturous nightmare.

Cathartic? This chapter was finally over. Their vengeance was done. Somehow they _had_ survived, their handiwork visible in the wreckage before them. Now they had to think beyond that death and onward to a future that actually existed, not one borne of despairing dreams. They didn't know how.

But for now, they could enjoy the brilliant crimson spiraling into the night sky.

"Beautiful, isn't it…"

One glanced at the other, covered in burns and makeshift bandages. He was no better.

"It's really over."

They were silent for a long time, watching the burning ruins.

"Think you can get us back?"

A chuckle. "I can try."

He smiled and forced himself to stand. It took more effort than his weary body liked, and his vision paled for a few moments. But he shook himself and knelt down to ease his companion up, supporting the entire way. There was a future to live in now. They could collapse when they arrived.

"Right then. C'mon. Let's go home."


End file.
